LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP 
CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  CRUZ 


E          X 


Robert  W.  Brokaw 


•**     •'  M 


FOE 


From  the  Pittsburgh  Daily  Gazette. 

The  great  success  which  has  attended  the  author's  former  works  is  an  assurance  of  the  popularity 
of  the  present.  Advance  sheets  which  have  been  sent  us  show  that  there  has  been  no  falling  off  in 
Headley's  graphic  style. 

From  the  New  York  Observer. 

Our  readers  need  no  commendations  of  the  writings  of  this  popular  author.  There  is  no  more 
graphic  pen  wielded  at  the  present  day  than  that  of  Mr.  Headley,  who  has  the  happy  faculty  of  spreading 
the  scones  he  describes  visibly  before  the  eye.  He  is  altogether  at  home  in  military  matters  and  in 
describing  battle  scenes.  The  present  work  is  peculiarly  in  his  line,  and  all  who  have  read  "  Washington 
and  his  Generals,"  &c.,  will  anticipate  a  literary  treat  in  reading  a  work  by  the  same  author  on  Grant 
and  Sherman  and  their  Generals. 

From  the  Newlurdh  (.N.  Y.)  Daily  Journal. 

The  name  of  the  author  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  it  will  be  all  that  it  is  represented  to  be.  From 
the  host  of  publications  that  are  cow  flooding  the  country  relative  to  the  war,  we  can  confidently  single 
out  this  work  and  recommend  it  to  our  readers.  * 

From  the  Chicago  Daily  Republican. 

"We  have  before  us  a  portion  of  the  new  book,  "  Grant  and  Sherman,"  from  the  vigorous  and  graphic 
pen  of  Hon.  J.  T.  Headley ;  the  author's  name  alone  gives  it  a  position  as  a  reliable  and  standard  work. 

From  the  North-  Western  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  Chicago,  III. 

Headley's  " Grant  and  Sherman "  we  are  satisfied  will  have  a  "fine  run."  Mr.  Headley's  pen  is 
graphic,  and  he  has  a  wonderful  faculty  in  deluding  a  reader  into  the  belief  that  he  is  an  actual 
spectator  of  the  scenes  described.  The  deeds  of  Grant  and  Sherman  deserve  a  record  as  imperishable 
as  themselves,  and  Headley  is  especially  th«  author  to  teach  these  epic-materials  to  the  people. 

From  the  New  York  Daily  Tribune. 

The  campaigns  of  Grant  and  Sherman  have  found  a  popular  historian  in  the  Hon.  J.  T.  Headley. 
The  pen  of  the  author  of  "  Washington  and  his  Generals"  will  find  ample  scope  for  vivid  descriptions 
of  the  battles  and  stirring  incidents  of  these  memorable  campaigns. 

"  Mr.  Headley's  qualities  as  a  biographer  and  historian  are  well  known  to  the  reading  public."' — 
Cleveland  Herald. 

"  The  brilliant  descriptive  powers  of  the  author,  and  his  thorough  appreciation  of  men,  will  make 
this  one  of  the  most  readable  records  of  the  war.  His  personal  acquaintance  with  many  of  its  prominent 
characters  will  add  to  its  value  and  interest."— New  York  Journal  of  Commerce.  x 

"The  campaigns  of  Grant  and  Sherman,  by  J.  T.  Headley,  is  intended  to  be  the  most  complete  work 
on  the  subject.  The  brilliant  and  picturesque  style  of  Mr.  Headley  will  very  happily  set  forth  all  that 
was  remarkable  in  their  romantic  campaigns."— Hartford  Daily  Press. 

"The  advance  sheets  give  evidence  of  the  writer's  skill  in  word-painting. — Springfield  Repuoltcan,. 

"  The  author  has  a  congenial  subject,  affording  ample  scope  for  his  descriptive  powers,  and  will 
produce  an  attractive  book." — N.  Y.  Independent. 

"  It  promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  popular  books  which  the  war  has  inspired,  and  the  only  one  that 
can  lay  claim  to  completeness  as  a  panorama  of  the  war." — Cleveland  Leader. 

"This  book  is  destined  to  arouse  a  greater  interest  than  any  other  work  from  the  pen  of  this  dis- 
tinguished author."— .ST.  Y.  Evangelist. 

"Grant  and  Sherman  and  their  Generals,  in  Headley's  thriving  style,  will  be  read  by  many  with 
en  unusual  degree  of  interest." — Hartford  Daily  Times. 


WASHINGTON  &  HIS  GENERALS: 


COMPRISING 


POPULAR   BIOGEAPHIES 


OJ1 


(Sallaitt 


of  our  Rational 


Br   HON.    J.    T.    HEADLEY, 

AVTHOB   OF  "NAPOLEON   AND   HIS   MARSHALS,"   "SACRED   MOUNTAINS,"    "HMTORY  er   TUX 
GREAT  REBELLION,"  &c.,  &c. 


Embellished  with  Numerous  Steel  Plate  Engravings. 
COMPLETE  Iff  ONE  LARGE  OCTAVO  VOLUME. 


This  is  truly  a  great  national  work,  giving  an  authentic  account  of  the  early  life, 
military  career,  public  services,  and  character  of 


Major-General  George  Washington, 
Israel  Putnam, 
Kichard  Montgomery, 
Benedict  Arnold, 
John  Stark, 
Philip  Schuyler, 
Horatio  Gates, 
Fredk.  Wm.  Steuhen, 
William  Sterling, 


Major-General  Nathaniel  Greene, 
William  Moultrie, 
Henry  Knox, 
Benjamin  Lincoln, 
Charles  Lee, 
James  Clinton, 
John  Sullivan, 
Lafayette, 
Commodore  Paul  Jones. 


Including  Brigadier-Generals  Marion,  Pickens,  Mercer,  Wooster,  and  others. 

FROM  PREFACE.  —  The  object  in  the  following  work  is  three-fold.  First,  to  group 
around  the  "  Father  of  his  Country  "  the  generals  who  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 
liim  through  the  stormy  period  of  the  Rerolution.  Second,  to  give  in  successive  pic- 
tures rather  than  in  military  detail,  the  great  battles  of  the  Revolution.  Third,  to  pre- 
sent the  early  history  of  each  general,  showing  how  they  were  trained  by  Providence 
for  the  very  work  to  which  their  lives  were  given.  There  could  be  no  better  time 
than  now  to  contemplate  those  pure  patriots,  who  knew  no  sectional  interests,  but 
were  bound  together  and  borne  aloft  by  a  common  love  for  the  whole  country  —  when 
Massachusetts  called  aloud  from  Bunker  Hill,  and  Marion,  from  the  swamps  of  South 
Carolina,  answered  her  —  when  New  York  and  Virginia  moved  side  by  side,  bound  by 
a  common  interest,  and  resolved  to  share  a  common  destiny.  May  that  common  in- 
heritance never  be  divided  ! 

COND  ITIOHSTS. 

The  work  will  be  comprised  in  one  octavo  volume  of  nearly  eight  hundred  pages,  including 
seventeen  steel  plate  engravings.  It  will  be  printed  from  clear  and  beautiful  type,  on  good  paper, 
and  furnished  to  subscribers  in  neat  and  substantial  binding, 

Cloth,  Gilt  Side  and  Back,  at        ......       $3  50 

Leather,  Library  Style,  50  cents  extra.    Payable  on  delivery. 

The  work  can  bo  obtained  only  through  our  Distributing  Agents.  Those  ordering  the  work 
will  not  be  obliged  to  take  it  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 


E.  B.  TREAT  &  Co.,  Publishers,  New  York. 


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  MARSHALS: 

COMPRISING   A 

FULL  AND  AUTHENTIC  ACCOUNT 

OF   THE 

ife,  DJilitarji  (tow,  Character,  (feile,  &  ieat| 

OF 

NAPOLEON   BONAPARTE, 

"THE  HERO  OF  A  HUNDRED  BATTLES." 


BY  HON.  J.   T.  HEADLEY, 

AUTHOR  OF  "WASHINGTON  AND  HIS  GENERALS,"  "SACRKD   MOUNTAINS,"  "HISTORY  OF 
GEEAT  EEBELLION,"  &c.,  &o. 


Including  Biographies  of  the  Most  Prominent  Marshals  that  clustered  around  Napoleon 
in  his  Victorious  Campaigns. 

Marshal  Berthier,  Marshal  St.  Cyr,  Marshal  Victor, 

'       Augereau,  *       Soult,  "       Bessieres, 

*  Davoust,  *       Mortier,  **       Bernadotte, 

*  Lannes,  *       Murat,  "       Suchet, 

*  Macdonald,  *       Massena,  "       Brune, 

*  Moncey,  *       Marmont,  "       Ney,  and  others. 


Embellished  with  Numerous  Steel  Plate  Engravings. 


It  has  been  my  design,  in  the  following  work,  not  only  to  give  the  true  character 
of  Napoleon,  and  the  wars  he  waged,  but  to  illustrate  the  men  who  led  his  armies  to 
victory ;  forming,  as  they  do,  a  group  the  like  of  which  the  world  has  never  seen. 
Their  battles  revolutionized  the  whole  art  of  war,  and  form  a  gallery  of  pictures  that 
has  no  equal  in  the  history  of  any  nation.  Many  of  these  renowned  battle-fields *I 
have  gone  over  in  person,  and  hence  been  able  to  give  more  accurate  descriptions  than 
I  otherwise  could.  These  never  will  lose  their  interest  while  great  deeds  are  admired 
and  true  heroes  honored.  Napoleon's  marshals  can  appropriately  be  placed  side  by 
side  with  our  own  great  generals  of  the  present  war. 

The  portraits  are  copies  of  those  in  the  national  gallery  of  France,  and  hence  must 
be  considered  accurate  likenesses. 


The  work  will  be  comprised  in  one  octavo  volume  of  over  seven  hundred  pages,  including 
twenty-one  steel  plate  and  other  ensravings.  It  will  be  printed  from  new  and  beautiful  type,  on 
good  paper,  and  furnished  to  subscribers  in  neat  and  substantial  binding. 

Cloth,  Gilt  Side  and  Back,  at $3  50 

Leather,  Library  Style,  50  cents  extra.    Payable  on  Delivery. 

The  work  can  be  obtained  only  throueh  our  Distributing  Agents.  Those  ordering  the  work  will 
not  be  obliged  to  take  it,  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

E.  B.  TREAT  &  Co.,  Publishers,  New  York. 


SACRED    MOUNTAINS, 


AND 


SCENES  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND. 


By  Hon.  J.  T.  HEADLEY, 

Author  of  "  Washington  and  his  Generals,"  "Napoleon  and  his  Marshals," 
**  History  of  the  Great  Rebellion,"  &c.,  &c. 


Illustrated  with  Beautiful  Steel  Plate  Engravings. 

Comprising  sketches  and  descriptions  of  Mount  Ararat,  Sinai,  Moriah,  Pisgah, 
Zion,  Tabor,  Calvary,  and  many  others  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Writings;  which 
have  been  the  theatre  of  the  most  wonderful  exhibitions  of  Divine  power,  wisdom 
and  goodness.'  Including  glowing  descriptions  of  Events,  Incidents  and  Scenes  in  the 
Holy  Land,  illustrating  the  great  and  glorious  manifestations  of  God  to  man ;  making 
more  familiar  and  life-like  the  Great  Truths  of  the  Bible. 

The  author  having  actually  made  the  Pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  visited 
the  places  made  sacred  -by  scenes  described  in  the  work,  renders  the  book  deeply 
interesting  and  more  attractive. 

The  Steel  Plates  are  from  accurate  drawings  of  the  mountains  described,  as  they 
now  appear.  The  other  plates  are  from  designs  by  DARLEY,  the  most  distinguished 
artist  in  America,  not  only  well  known  in  the  world  of  art,  but  in  the  religious  world, 
for  many  of  the  similar  beautiful  designs  he  has  made  for  the  Tract  Society. 

From  the  popularity  of  the  author  and  the  exquisite  style  and  finish  of  the  work, 
the  publishers  bespeak  for  it  a  large  an-d  rapid  sale. 


The  work  will  be  printed  from  new  type,  on  superior  paper,  and  comprise  over 
four  hundred  pages,  with  twenty  Steel  Plate  and  other  engravings,  from  designs  by 
Darley,  and  substantially  bound. 

DELIVERED  TO  SUBSCRIBERS  AT  THE  FOLLOWING  PRICES; 

Full  Gilt  Side  and  Back,  Sprinkled  Edg-e, $300 

Full  Gilt  Side,  Back  and  Gilt  Edg-es,  50  cts.  extra. 

Payment  to  be  made  on  the  Delivery  of  the  Work. 

Subscribers  will  not  l)e  obliged,  to  take  the  Worlc  unless  it  corresponds  with 
the  description  in  every  particular. 

E.  B.  TREAT   &   CO.,  Publishers, 

B3T"  Agents  Wanted. 


LIEUT.  GEN. ULYSSES  S  ,  GRANT,  U.S.A. 


GRANT  AND  SHERMAN; 


THEIR 


CAMPAIGNS  AND  GENERALS. 


BY 


HON.  J.  T.  HEADLEY, 

AUTHOR  OF  "WASHINGTON  AND  ma  GENERALS,"  "NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  MARSHALS," 
"SACRED  MOUNTAINS,  SCENES,"  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 


COMPRISING 

AUTHENTIC  ACCOUNT  OF  BATTLES  AND  SIEGES,  ADVEN- 
TURES AND  INCIDENTS,  INCLUDING  BIOGRAPHIES  OF 
THE  PROMINENT  GENERALS  WHO  BROUGHT 
TO  A  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE 


THE  GREAT  REBELLION 

OF 

1861-1865. 


WITH  1TUMEEOTJS 


;£me  &tol  $fortraifs, 


SOLD   ONLY   BY   SUBSCRIPTION. 


NEW  YOKK: 
E.  B.  TREAT  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. :  C.  W.  LILLEY.          ST.  LOUIS,  MO. :  I.  S.  BRADURD. 
CLEVELAND,  0. :  J.  J.  WILSON  &  CO.         DETROIT,  MICH. :  B.  C.  BAKER 
CINCINNATI,   0.:GEO.   B.   FESSENDEN. 
BOSTON,  MASS. :  TALBOT  &  SHUTE. 

1866. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1805,  by 

J.  T.  HEADLEY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


JOHN    F.    TROW    &    CO., 

PUNTERS,  STEREOTYPBRS,   $•  BLECTROTYPBRS, 
50    6RGBNB     8TRKKT,     H.T. 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTICE. 

No  Subscription  Books  ever  published  have  equalled  in  popularity  aad 
circulation  Mr.  HEADLEY'S  previous  Books.  "We  are  warranted,  therefore, 
in  predicting  for  this  work  an  unexampled  success. 

Among  the  most  glorious  pages  of  the  History  of  the  War  which  has  BO 
recently  closed,  are  those  which  describe  the  stirring  incidents  of  the  famous 
Campaigns  of  our  great  Generals  GEANT  and  SHEEMAN,  from  the  capture  of 
Fort  Donelson  to  Sherman's  famous  march  through  Georgia,  ending  finally 
in  the  capture  of  Richmond,  the  surrender  of  the  Kebel  armies,  and  the  final 
overthrow  of  the  most  gigantic  Rebellion  recorded  in  History.  Battles  and 
sieges,  adventures  and  incidents,  in  connection  with  the  great  heroes  of  the 
war,  and  all  that  is  of  interest  in  their  memorable  campaigns,  are  recorded 
in  this  volume,  and  the  descriptions  of  these  stirring  events,  by  the  vigorous 
and  graphic  pen  of  HON.  J.  T.  HEADLEY,  enchain  the  reader  with  their  vivid- 
ness, and  make  him,  as  it  were,  a  spectator  of  the  magnificent  and  imposing 
scenes  so  faithfully  photographed. 

The  four  years  of  civil  war  through  which  the  United  States  have  passed 
has  created  a  history,  the  record  of  which  is  brilliant  with  the  names  of 
Heroes  and  heroic  deeds ;  and  at  this  time  there  is  a  great  and  increasing 
demand  for  a  work  which  will  give  an  authentic  account  of  the  daring  deeds 
and  gallant  achievements  of  the  brave  and  faithful  men  who  so  nobly  de- 
fended and  preserved  our  country. 

The  Publisher  esteems  himself  fortunate  in  having  secured  the  talents 
of  the  distinguished  author  of  this  work,  who  has  achieved  a  world-wide 
reputation  as  the  most  popular  and  graphic  writer  of  military  history  of 
modern  times,  to  prepare  a  book  worthy  of  the  theme  and  the  occasion. 

Mr.  HEADLEY'S  reputation  and  his  facilities  for  obtaining  facts  and  in- 
formation, his  personal  acquaintance  with  many  of  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  GEANT'S  and  SHEEMAN'S  Armies,  and  his  access  to  the  official  documents, 
place  the  authenticity  of  this  work  beyond  a  doubt,  and  we  offer  it  to  the 
public  as  a  standard  and  reliable  addition  to  American  literature.  The  great 
and  peculiar  value  of  this  work  consists  in  the  fact  that,  in  a  comparatively 
small  compass,  the  author  has  given  a  complete  biography  of  the  illustrious 
men  whose  deeds  he  celebrates,  and,  at  the  same  time,  correct  pictures  of  the 
grand  historical  events  in  which  they  performed  such  important  parts. 

The  popularity  of  the  author  and  the  subject,  with  the  exquisite  style 
and  finish  in  the  workmanship  of  the  Book,  will  insure  its  success  in  every 
part  of  the  country. 

The  Book  is  embellished  with  portraits  engraved  on  steel  in  the  highest 
style  of  the  art,  by  H.  B.  HALL,  from  photographs  taken  from  life  by  BEADY, 
BABNAED,  (army  photographer,)  and  others ;  and  by  spirited  battle-scenes, 
engraved  by  ROBEETS,  from  original  designs  drawn  expressly  for  this  work. 

E.  B.  TREAT  &  Co.  Publishers. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGH 

1.  PORTRAIT  OF  LIEUTENANT- GENERAL   U.  S.  GRANT  ,  .      .      .      Frontispiece. 

2.  "          "  MAJOR-GENEEAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN,       .  .      136 

3.  "          "      "  "  P.  H.  SHERIDAN,        .        .        .460 

4.  "          "      "  "  GEO.  H.  THOMAS,  ...      260 

5.  "  "         "  "  J.  B.  MoPHERSON,       .  .  .    310 

6.  "          "      "  "  0.  O.  HOWARD,     ...» 

7.  "  "         "  "  J.   M.  SCHOFIELD,         ..." 

8.  "  "         "  "  J.  KlLPATRICK,          ..." 

9.  "          u      "  "  H.  W.  SLOOTJM,         ..." 

10.  .      "  "         "  "  W.  S.  EOSEORANS,  « 

11.  "  "  "  "  J.  A.  LOGAN,  ..." 

12.  "  "  "  "  GEO.  G.  MEADE,  ...        29 

13.  "  "  "  "  W.  S.  HANCOCK,  ..." 

14.  "  "  "  "  FRANZ  SIGEL,  ..." 

15.  "  "  "  "  J.  HOOKER,  .        .        .     « 

16.  "  "  "  "  Q.  A.  GILLMORE,  ..." 

17.  "  "  "  "  A.  E.  BURNSIDE,  ..." 

18.  "  "  "  "  J.  SEDGEWICK.  ..." 

19.  SHERIDAN'S  BATTLE  AT  WINCHESTER,     ; 477 

20.  SIEGE  OF  YICKSBURG,  . 89 

21.  DEATH  OF  MAJOR-GENERAL  J.  B.  McPnERSON.  .        .        .        .253 

22.  GENERAL  GRANGER  COMING  TO  THE  EESCUE  OF  GENERAL  THOMAS 

AT  CHICKAMATJGA,         .  __^_-      .        .        .        .         .         .         .      277 

23.  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG,         '  .        .'       ' 352 

24.  BATTLE  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN — ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS,     .        ,        ".      376 

25.  SHERMAN'S  MARCH  BY  TORCH-LIGHT  THROUGH  THE  SWAMPS  OF  SOUTH 

CAROLINA,.      .     L' .  '     .       •„        .        ,        .        .       ".        .        .392 

26.  SURRENDER  OF  LEE  AND  HIS  ARMY  TO  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT.  131 

27.  MAP  OF  THE  INLAND  EOUTE  TO  EEAR  OF  VICKSBURG,    ^      '.        .        72 

28.  MAP  OF  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN,  .        ....        .  167 

29.  MAP  OF  THE  GEORGIA  CAMPAIGN,    „      .        .        .        ,        .  •'":-.'      189 

30.  MAP  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CAROLINAS.        .    '    .  .      .--       .        .211 


PREFACE. 


THE  design  in  the  present  work  is  two-fold  :  first,  to 
give  the  history  of  the  two  great  generals  who  brought 
the  war  to  a  successful  close,  including  a  full  account  of 
the  campaigns  by  which  the  final  result  was  reached. 
It  is  as  necessary  to  note  the  early  training,  by  battles  and 
campaigns,  by  which  they  were  finally  enabled  to  grasp 
the  entire  situation  and  move  together  to  the  same  tri- 
umphant end,  as  it  is  to  know  the  finaJ  measures  and  move- 
ments that  brought  success.  The  war  produced  no  one 
great  military  genius  who  at  once  vaulted  to  supreme 
command,  and,  like  the  first  Napoleon,  revolutionized 
military  science  and  astonished  the  world  by  the  novelty 
and  grandeur  of  his  movements.  Both  the  government 
and  the  generals  GEEW  to  their  great  positions.  Hence 
what  is  needed  is  not  indiscriminate  eulogy,  but  truth- 
ful narrative  and  just  criticism.  GEANT  and  SHEEMAN  are 
two  names  that  will  live  forever  in  our  history,  not  be- 
cause they  were  the  subjects  of  a  blind  adulation,  but 
because  their  worth  was  properly  estimated  and  their 
deeds  truthfully  recorded.  The  time  has  gone  by  to 
apotheosize  men — make  gods  of  them.  We  want  to  see 


12  PBEFACE. 

them  as  they  are — though  great,  still  human,  and  sur- 
rounded with  human  infirmities ;  worthy  of  immortal 
honor,  not  because  they  are  unlike  us,  but  because  they 
excel  us — great  too,  not  merely  in  their  actions,  but  in  the 
work  they  accomplished  for  their  country. 

The.  second  object  is  to  group  around  these  two  men 
those  generals  who  climbed  to  immortality  by  their  side 
— shared  their  fortunes — helped  to  win  their  battles, 
and  remained  with  them  to  the  last. 

Many  great  and  worthy  generals  might  be  added  to 
the  list  we  have  selected,  but  in  the  progress  of  the  war 
they  have  been  dropped  from  active  service  from  various 
reasons — some  from  inequalities  of  character  or  temper 
— improper  habits,  or  inability  to  resist  the  temptations 
of  pride  and  ambition.  Some  have  fallen  before  personal 
or  political  malice  of  men  in  and  out- of  power.  These 
are  omitted,  though  their  deeds  will  find  a  place  in  his- 
tory, because  their  introduction  here  would  mar  the 
unity  of  the  design  in  this  work,  which  is  to  present  to 
the  reader  the  two  men  and  the  chief  generals  with 
them  who  closed  up  the  struggle. 

Besides,  the  introduction  of  every  meritorious  officer 
would  make  the  work  too  cumbersome  for  our  purpose, 
unless  the  biographies  were  reduced  to  mere  encyclopedia 
articles. 

The  utmost  efforts  have  been  made  to  have  these, 
sketches  complete  without  being  heavy — to  give  the 
leading  qualities,  peculiar  characteristics,  and  actions  of 
the  men,  in  such  a  form  as  to  individualize  each. 


^  PREFACE.  13* 

Biographies  possess  but  half  their  true  value  unless 
they  give  living  portraits,  so  that  each  man  stands  out 
clear  and  distinct  in  his  true  character  and  proportions. 
A  careful  study  of  the  war  from  the  outset  gives  us, 
we  think,  the  right  to  attempt  this,  without  being  charg- 
ed with  vanity.  At  all  events,  the  men  embraced  in 
this  volume  merit  all  the  honor  they  ever  will  receive, 
while  their  names  deserve  the  separate  places  which  it 
shall  be  our  design,  and  at  least  our  effort,  to  give  them. 


C  ONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAQB 

The  First  Great  Plan  of  Carrying  on  the  War— The  Failure  of  Halleck's  Admi- 
nistration—The Great  Change  in  Affairs  when  Grant  Assumed  Control  of  our 
Armies — Popular  Errors  Respecting  Generals  and  the  "War — Capable  Leaders 
not  Ready-Made,  but  grow  to  their  Responsibilities — Mistaken  Notion  of  the 
Government— Want  of  Charity  of  the  People— Our  Generals  not  to  be  Blindly 
Eulogized,  but  their  Mistakes,  as  well  as  Triumphs,  to  be  Recorded— A  True 
Narrative  of  their  Rise  to  Greatness  the  only  one  Desirable,  .  .  .81 


CHAPTER    II. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 


His  Ancestry  and  Nativity — Brought  up  a  Tanner — Enters  West  Point  Military 
Academy— Brevetted  Second  Lieutenant,  and  sent  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  Mo. — 
Joins  Taylor's  Army  in  Mexico — After  the  Battle  of  Monterey,  transferred  to 
Scott's  Army  at  Vera  Cruz — Made  Quartermaster  of  his  Regiment — Brevetted 
Captain  for  Gallantry  at  Chapultepec — His  Marriage— Stationed  at  Detroit  and 
Sackett's  Harbor — Sent  to  Oregon — Resigns  his  Commission — Settles  on  a 
Farm,  near  St.  Louis — Acts  as  Collector  of  Debts  for  his  Neighbors — Goes  to 
Galena  and  Sets  up  a  Leather-Store  in  Connection  with  his  Father— Breaking 
out  of  the  War — Offers  his  Services  to  the  Government,  and  Raises  a  Com- 
pany— Made  Adjutant- General  of  the  State— Refuses  a  Brigadiership—  Ap- 
pointed Colonel  and  sent  into  Missouri — Made  Brigadier,  and  Assigned  to  the 
District  of  Cairo — Expedition  to  Belmont,  and  Capture  of  the  Enemy's  Camp — 
His  Horse  shot  under  him — His  Congratulatory  Order — His  District  Enlarged — 
2 


16  CONTENTS. 


PAOB' 


Tbe  Cairo  Expeditions— A  Strict  Order— Private  Property  to  be  Respected- 
Expedition  against  Fort  Henry — Investment  and  Capture  of  Fort  Donelson — The 
Battle— Ordered  under  Arrest— Put  over  the  West  Tennessee  Department— Ad- 
vances to  Pittsburg  Landing— Battle  of— His  Defeat  First  Day— Sherman's 
Letter — Determination  to  Remove  him  from  Command — Charges  against — Fate 
ceases  to  persecute  him. — His  Star  in  the  Ascendant — Advance  against  Cor- 
inth—Loses his  Temper  with  Halleok— His  Conduct  at  Memphis— Battles  of 
luka  and  Corinth — Turns  his  Attention  to  Vicksburg — Sherman's  Failure  at 
Vicksburg,  .  ;  >  ,  • '.  .  .  .  .  .  .37 


CHAPTER    III. 

*     VICKSBURG. 

Canal  around  it — Abandoned — Lake  Providence  Route — Moon-Lake  Route — This 
also  Abandoned — The  Steel's  Bayou  Route — Description  of  Expedition  through — 
A  Failure — Grant  Resolves  to  Run  the  Batteries  with  Gunboats  and  Transports 
—The  Night-Passage — March  of  Troops  around  Vicksburg  Inland— New  Car- 
thage—Hard Times— Grand  Gulf— Its  Batteries  Run— Port  Gibson  Reached— 
Strips  for  the  Race— Battle— Grand  Gulf  Evacuated— Bold  Determination  of 
Grant — Battle  at  Raymond — March  on  Jackson — Victory  at — The  Army  Wheels 
about  and  Marches  on  Vicksburg — Battle  of  Champion's  Hill — Battle  at  Big 
Black  River — Vicksburg  Invested— First  Assault— Second  Grand  Assault- 
Reason  ^of— The  Long  Siege — The  Surrender,  ,-  •*.*'..  .  ,  „  .^-  •  69 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Fall  of  Port  Hudson — The  President's  Letter  to  Grant— Review  of  the  Campaign — 
A  Public  Reception  in  Vicksburg— Visits  New  Orleans — Is  Thrown  from  his 
Horse  and  Injured — Placed  over  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi — Placed 
in  Command  at  Chattanoooga — Orders  Sherman  to  March  Across  the  Country  to 
join  Him— His  Plan  for  Raising  the  Siege— The  Battle— Grant's  Appearance  on 
the  Field — The  Grand  Attack  of  the  Centre  under  His  own  eye— Missionary 
Ridge  Carried — The  Pursuit— An  Indian  Chief's  Opinion  of  Grant— The  Presi- 
dent's Letter  of  Thanks— Grant's  Order— Congress  Votes  Him  a  Medal— He  Vis- 
its Nashville  and  Knoxville— Refuses  to  Make  a 'Speech— Creation  of  the  Rank 
of  Lieutenant-General — Grant  Nominated  to  It — Enters  on  His  Duties— Im- 
mense Preparations  for  the  Coming  Campaign— The  Country's  Patience  Under 
Delays— Two  Armies  to  Move  Simultaneously — The  Bell  of  Destiny  Begins  to  Toll,  87 


CONTENTS.  1 7 

CHAPTER    V. 
THE  RICHMOND  CAMPAIGN. 

PAQB 

Character  and  Plan  of  the  Campaign— The  Army  Crosses  the  Rapidan— The  Three 
Days'  Battle  in  the  Wilderness — Lee's  Retreat  to  Spottsylvania— Battles  Before 
it — Grant,  by  a  Flank  Movement,  Marches  to  the  North  Anna  River — Makes  a 
Second  Flank  Movement  to  the  Pamunkey — The  Chickahominy — Battle  of  Cold 
Harbor — Strength  of  the  Rebel  Works — He  Marches  to  the  James  River — 
Crosses  it  and  Attacks  Petersburg— Is  Repulsed — Review  of  the  Campaign — 
Siege  of  Richmond— Early  Sent  to  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah— Goes  into  Ma- 
ryland and  Pennsylvania — The  Mine  of  Burnside— Grant  Defeated  at  Hatcher's 
Run— Winter  Quarters— Capture  of  Fort  Fisher— Sherman  Advancing— Despe- 
ration of  the  Rebels— Their  Attempt  to  take  City  Point  with  Iron-clads— Narrow 
Escape  of  Grant's  Army — Attack  on  Fort  Steaclman — Last  Great  Movement  of 
the  Army — Description  of— Petersburg  and  Richmond  Evacuated — The  Race  for 
Life  of  the  Rebel  Army — The  Surrender — Account  of  it— A  Momentous  Sabbath 
—Surrender  of  Johnston — Collapse  of  the  Rebellion— Joy  of  the  People— En- 
thusiasm for  Grant— His  Character,  .  •  .  .  .  .  .IOC 


CHAPTER    VI. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN. 

Sherman  and  Grant— Sherman's  Nativity  and  Early  Life— Adopted  by  Mr.  Ewing — 
Sent  to  West  Point— Made  Second-Lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery  and  Sent  to 
Florida— Stationed  at  Fort  Moultrie,  South  Carolina— Sent  to  California— Re- 
signs his  Commission  and  Becomes  President  of  a  Banking  House  in  San  Fran- 
cisco— Made  President  of  the  Louisiana  State  Military  Academy — Seeing  War 
Inevitable,  Resigns  his  Place  in  a  Noble  Letter — Visits  Washington,  and  is  As- 
tonished at  the  Apathy  there — Gives  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  his 
Views,  which  only  Create  a  Smile — Made  Colonel  and  Fights  at  Bull  Run — Made 
Brigadier  of  Volunteers  and  Sent  to  Kentucky— Interview  with  the  Secretary  of 
War  and  Adjutant-General — Anecdote  of  Him— Pronounced  Crazy — Relieved 
from  Command  and  Sent  to  Jefferson  Barracks — Commands  a  Division  at  Shiloh 
--Saves  the  Battle— The  First  to  Enter  Corinth— Takes  Holly  Springs— Commands 
at  Memphis — His  Attack  on  Vicksburg — Arkansas  Post — Full  Account  of  the 
Part  he  Took  in  Grant's  Campaign  Against  Vicksburg — Ordered  if>  Chattanooga 
— Death  of  his  Boy,  whom  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  had  Adopted  as  a  Pet,  and 
Elected  Sergeant — Touching  Letter  to  the  Regiment,  ....  136 


18  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER     VII 

CHATTANOOGA. 

PAQI 

Sherman's  March  from  the  Mississippi  to  Chattanooga— His  Arrival— Establishes 
Himself  on  Missionary  Ridge — The  Morning  Before  the  Battle — Picturesque 
View— Opening  of  the  Battle— The  Victory— Pursuit— Ordered  to  March  North 
to  the  Relief  of  Knoxville— State  of  His  Army — Heroic  Devotion — Sherman 
at  Vicksburg — The  Expedition  Into  Central  Mississippi — Its  Object  and  Cause 
of  its  Abandonment — Placed  Over  the  "Mississippi  Department— Plans  the 
Atlanta  Campaign — Its  Originality — The  Number  and  Distribution  of  His 
Forces,  »  '<  .  .  v  *  ,  »  .  *  .  .  15« 


CHAPTER     VIII. 
ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN. 

Sherman's  Foresight  in  Preparing  for  Contingencies — Flanks  Dalton — Battle  of  Res- 
aca — Defeat  of  the  Enemy — The  Pursuit — Capture  of  Rome — Fight  at  Dallas — 
Flanking  of  Allatoona — A  Second  Base  Established — The  Kenesavv  Mountains 
— Strength  of  the  Position — Desperate  Assault  of— Defeat — Flanking  Again  Re- 
sorted to— Chattahoochee  River  Reached— View  of  the  Country— Terrible  As- 
sault on  Thomas— Hood  Retires  to  His  Inner  Works — Desperate  Attack  on 
McPherson — Heavy  Rebel  Losses — Capture  of  Stoneman — Cutting  the  Rebel 
Lines  of  Communication — Attack  on  Howard — The  Army  Swung  Round  the 
City  to  the  Macon  Road — Fight  at  Jonesboro'— Atlanta  Evacuated — Destruction 
of  Property — Slocum  Takes  Possession — Review  of  the  Campaign — Genius  of 
Sherman— Pursuit  of  Wheeler,  .  .  .  .,,  .  .  .169 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  GEORGIA  CAMPAIGN. 

Hood  Attempts  to  Cut  Sherman's  Communications— Corse's  Gall  ant  Defence  of  Alla- 
toona— Pursuit  of  Hood — Sherman's  Original  and  Daring  Plan — Burning  of 
Rome — Of  Atlanta — Sherman  Starts  for  the  Atlantic  Ocean— Views  Respecting 
the  Movement — Disposition  of  His  Forces  and  Plan  of  Movement — The  Left 


CONTENTS.  19 

/ 

IMP 
Wing  Under  Slocuin— The  Right  Under  Howard— Kilpatrick's  Cavalry— The 

Two  Marches — Macon — Milledgeville — Soldiers  Organize  the  Legislature — Novel 
Scene — Augusta  Threatened — Millen — March  to  Savannah — Picturesque  Scenes 
in  the  Pine  Forests— Review  of  the  March— Savannah  Reached  and  Invested— 
Storming  of  Fort  McAllister — Sherman  Witnesses  it  from  the  Top  of  a  Rice 
Mill — Surrender  of  Savannah — Magnitude  of  the  Capture — Hardee  Retreats 
to  Charleston— Sherman's  Christmas  Gift  to  the  President— Review  of  the 
Campaign,  .........  l&l 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  CAROLINAS. 

Eherman  Plans  His  Northern  Campaign — Strength  and  Division  of  His  Army — The 
Trains — Construction  Train — The  Left  Wing  Threatens  Augusta — The  Right 
Charleston — Rain  Storms — Salkahatchie  as  a  Line  of  Defence — Sherman's  Plan 
to  Separate  the  Forces  at  Charleston  and  Augusta  Completely  Successful — The 
Railroad  Between  the  Two  Broken  Up — Capture  of  Orangeburg — Branchville 
Left  in  the  Rear— The  Army  Reaches  the  Saluda— Fall  of  Colnmbia— Is  Set  on 
Fire  by  the  Rebels — Sherman's  Account  of— Anecdotes  of  Sherman — Charlotte 
Threatened  and  Beauregard  Bewildered — Fall  of  Charleston — The  Army  Wheels 
About  and  Marches  on  Fayetteville— The  Two  Wings  Meet  for  the  First  Time  at 
Cheraw — Capture  of  Fayetteville  and  Communication  Opened  with  Terry  and 
Schofield— Raleigh  Threatened— Battle  of  Bentonville— Goldsboro  Reached— 
The  Campaign  Virtually  Ended — Sherman  Visits  Grant  and  is  Directed  to  Coop- 
erate with  Him— His  Return— News  of  the  Fall  of  Petersburg— Sherman 
Marches  on  Raleigh — News  of  Lee's  Surrender — Excitement  in  the  Army — In- 
terview with  Johnston — The  Armistice — Conduct  of  the  Secretary  of  War — 

p  Vindication  of  Sherman — Injustice  and  Cruelty  of  the  Attacks  on  Him — His 
Character,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .218 

1 

CHAPTER    XI. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  JAMES  B.  McPHERSON. 

His  Worth  at  first  not  Appreciated— His  Birth— Enters  West  Point— Graduates  at 
the  Head  of  his  Class  and  Appointed  Assistant  Instructor  of  Practical  Engineer- 
ing— Transferred  to  New  York  Harbor — Charged  with  the  Construction  of  Fort 


CONTENTS. 

PAQl 

Delaware — Sent  to  Superintend  the  Fortifications  Being  Erected  in  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco  —  Ordered  Home  and  sent  to  Boston  Harbor  —  Erroneous 
Views— Placed  on  the  Staff  of  Halleck— His  Promotion— Sent  to  Aid  Rose- 
crans — A  Successful  Expedition  from  La  Grange — Under  Grant  in  North- 
ern Mississippi — Commands  the  Seventeenth  Corps  in  the  Campaign  Against 
Vicksburg — His  Gallant  Conduct— Capture  of  Jackson — Champion  Hills — 
Assault  of  Vicksburg— The  Surrender— Placed  Over  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee— Defers  his  Marriage— His  Services  in  the  Atlanta  Campaign — Ter- 
rible Fight  Before  Atlanta— His  Death— Grant's  Letter  to  his  Grandmother 
—His  Character,  .  .-  .  .  .  .  •  .  .  .237 


CHAPTER    XII. 

MAJO&GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

Hia  Resemblance  to  "Washington — His  Birth  and  Early  Education — His  Standing  at 
West  Point — Account  of  his  Early  Military  Career — Wounded  in  a  Fight  with 
the  Indians  while  on  an  Exploring  Expedition — Breaking  out  of  the  War —  • 
Stands  By  the  Old  Flag — Commands  in  Patterson's  Army — Is  under  Banks- 
Sent  to  Kentucky  under  General  Anderson — Camp  Dick  Robinson — Wild-Cat 
Camp — Defeats  Zollicofi'er — Battle  of  Mill  Spring— Death  of  Zollicoffer — Made 
Major-General  of  Volunteers — Marches  to  Pittsburg  Landing — After  Operations 
under  Buell — Ordered  to  Supersede  Buell — Declines— Serves  Under  Rosecrans — 
Confidence  in  Him — Feeling  of  the  Army — Pet  Names — His  Bravery  at  Mur- 
freesboro — His  Brilliant  Heroic  Conduct  at  Chickamauga — Supersedes  Rose- 
crans— Commands  the  Centre  under  Grant  in  the  Battle  of  Missionary  Ridge — 
Sherman's  Chief  Reliance  in  the  Atlanta  Campaign— Assaulted  by  Hood— At 
Jonesboro — Sent  to  Nashville  to  Raise  an  Army — Correspondence  with  Grant — 
Battle  of  Nashville— His  Character,  .  ..  ....  ...  .  2G1 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT  HANCOCK. 

His  Birth — Enters  West  Point — Sent  to  the  Indian  Territory — His  Services  in  Mex- 
ico—Expedition to  Utah— Sent  to  California— Recalled  at  the  Breaking  Out  of 
the  War— Made  Brigadier-General—Gallant  Charge  at  Williamsburg— His  Ser- 
vices on  the  Peninsult  under  McClellan— Serves  under  Pope— Gallantry  at  An- 


CONTENTS.  21 

PAG* 

tletam — At  Fredericksburg — At  Chancellorsville — Represents  Meade  at  Gettys- 
burg—The Battle— Is  Wounded— Under  Grant  Commands  the  Left  Wing  of  the 
Grand  Army — Battle  of  the  Wilderness— Gallant  Charge  at  Spottsylvania — At 
North  Anna — Before  Petersburg — Defeated  at  Hatcher's  Run — Resigns  hia 
Command— Appointed  to  Raise  a  Corps  of  Veterans — Commands  in  the  She- 
nandoah  Valley — His  Character,  .  •  » :.  »  .  .  .  .  294 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HUGH  JUDSON  KILPATRICK. 

Mis  Birth  and  Early  Life— Enters  West  Point— Whips  a  Bully— Leaves  for  the  Army 
Before  he  Completes  his  Course— His  Marriage— .Becomes  an  Officer  in  Duryea's 
Zouaves — Wounded  at  Big  Bethel — Made  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Harris 
Light  Cavalry — Seizes  Falmouth— Chase  After  the  Rebel  Commander — Gallant 
Operations  Around  Fredericksburg — His  Services  in  Pope's  Campaign — Under 
Hooker— Raid  on  Richmond— His  Fights  Previous  to  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg, 
and  In  It — Daring  Pursuit  of  Lee — A  Fearful  Night  March — Scene  at  Smithburg 
— Fight  at  Hagerstown — March  to  Williamsport — Fight  at— Charge  at  Falling 
Waters — Summing  Up  of  his  Achievements— Obtains  a  Furlough — Operations 
on  the  Rapidan  and  Rappahannock,  under  Meade — Gallant  Attempt  to  Release 
the  Prisoners  in  Richmond — Enters  the  Outworks  of  the  Rebel  Capital — Sent 
West  to  Join  Sherman — Is  Wounded  at  Resaca  and  Returns  Home — Again  Joins 
the  Army  Before  Atlanta— Sent  to  Cut  the  Railroads— Commands  the  Cavalry  in 
the  Georgia  Campaign — Account  of  his  Services — Complimented  by  Sherman — 
Campaign  of  the  Carolinas — Threatens  Augusta— His  Surprise  by  Hampton  and 
Narrow  Escape — Retaliation  on  the  Enemy — Averysboro — His  Gallantry  at  Ben- 
tonville— His  Address  to  his  Troops— His  Character,  .  .  .  .316 


CHAPTER    XV. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEADE. 

His  Career  Furnishing  but  Few  Striking  Points  to  a  Biographer — His  Birth— Grad- 
uates at  West  Point — Serves  in  the  Mexican  War — Promoted  for  Gallant  Con- 
duct in  the  Battle  of  Monterey — Made  Brigadier  of  Volunteers  soon  after  the 
Breaking  Out  of  the  War— Commands  a  Foraging  Expedition  near  Dranesville— 
His  Career  on  the  Peninsula — Is  Desperately  Wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Glendale 


22  CONTENTS. 

FAflV 

— Serves  under  Hooker  at  South  Mountain  and  Antietam — His  Brilliant  Charge 
at  the  Latter  Place — After  Hooker  is  Wounded  Assumes  Command  of  the  Corps 
— At  Chancellorsville — Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
— His  Model  Order — Pursuit  of  Lee — Battle  of  Gettysburg— Headquarters  un- 
der Fire — The  Victory — The  Pursuit— ^Strange  Inaction  in  Front  of  Lee — 
Crosses  the  Potomac— Outmarched  by  Lee — Compelled  to  Retreat  to  Bull  Run — 
Advances  to  the  Rappahannock — Various  Detached  Conflicts — Winter  Quarters 
— Grant  Places  Himself  at  the  Head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — Grant  and 
Meade  Together— Character  of  the  Latter,  .  ',*  .  .  .  S47 


CHAPTER     XVI. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER. 

His  Birth  and  Nativity — Enters  West  Point — Serves  under  Taylor  in  Mexico— Joins 
the  Army  of  General  Scott — Promoted  for  Gallant  Conduct  at  the  National 
Bridge  and  Chapultepec — Resigns  his  Commission  and  Becomes  a  California 
Farmer — Appointed  Brigadier  of  Volunteers  at  the  Commencement  of  the  War 
— Is  Stationed  Below  Washington — Battle  of  Williamsburg — His  After  Services 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — Under  Pope— Battle  of  South  Mountain — Of  An- 
tietam— Is  Wounded— Under  Burnside — Supersedes  him — His  Confident  Orders 
— Feeling  of  the  People — Battle  of  Chancellorsville — Lee  Marches  Around  him — 
Resigns  his  Position — Sent  to  Chattanooga  to  Assist  Rosecrans — Occupies  Look- 
out Valley— Battle  Above  the  Clouds— His  Gallant  Record  in  the  Atlanta  Cam- 
paign— Terrific  Fight  Before  the  City — Offended  at  Howard's  Promotion  and 
Resigns — Sent  to  Ohio — Now  Commands  New  England  Department,  .  .  366 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HENRY  WARNER  SLOCUM.  % 

The  Benefit  of  West  Point  Academy — Slocum's  Birth — Graduates  at  West  Point — 
Sent  to  Florida— Stationed  at  Charleston — Studies  Law— Resigns  his  Commis- 
sion and  Opens  a  Law  Office  in  Syracuse — Volunteers  in  the  Army  and  is  Mado 
Colonel — Wounded  at  Bull  Run — Made  Brigadier-General — Commands  a  Di- 
vision—His Career  on  the  Peninsula  under  McClellan — At  South  Mountain  and 
Antietam — Supersedes  Banks — At  Chancellorsville — Commands  the  Left  Wing 


CONTENTS.  23 

PA  OB 

at  Gettysburg — Is  sent  into  Tennessee — Protects  the  Communications  Between 
Chattanooga  and  Nashville— Placed  Over  the  Department  of  Vicksburg — De- 
stroys the  Bridges  Over  Pearl  River— Cut  Off  by  the  Enemy— Defeats  Him— Ex- 
pedition to  Port  Gibson— A  Night  Attack— Takes  Hooker's  Place  as  Commander 
of  the  Twentieth  Corps— Enters  Atlanta— Placed  Over  the  Left  Wing  of  Sher- 
man's Army — March  Through  Georgia — Through  the  Carolinas — Battles  of 
Averysboro  and  Bentonville — His  Character,  L  381 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  S.  ROSECRANS. 

His  Birth  and  Parentage — Keeps  a  Store — Is  sent  to  West  Point — Is  made  Assistant 
Professor  in  the  Academy — His  Early  and  Great  Services  as  Engineer — Resigns 
on  Account  of  111  Health — Opens  an  Office  in  Cincinnati— Is  Employed  by  a 
Coal  Company  in  Virginia — Sets  up  a  Manufactory  of  Coal  Oil— Nearly  Loses 
his  Life — The  First  to  make  Pure  Oil— Invents  the  Circular  Wick,  and  makes 
Improvements  in  Lamps — Breaking  Out  of  the  War — His  First  Services — Made 
Brigadier- General,  and  Ordered  to  Western  Virginia — Rich  Mountain — Carni- 
fex  Ferry — Defeats  Lee— His  Plans  Broken  Up — Fremont  Placed  Over  the  Moun- 
tain Department — Is  sent  West — Under  Halleck — Under  Grant — Battle  of  luka 
—Battle  of  Corinth— Placed  Over  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland— Battle  of  Mur- 
freesboro— Captures  Chattanooga— Battle  of  Chickamauga — Is  Superseded  by 
Thomas — Placed  over  the  Missouri  Department — His  Character, 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGEWICK. 

Elis  Birth  and  Nativity— A  Farmer's  Boy— Enters  West  Point— Sent  to  Florida— Sta- 
tioned at  Buffalo — At  New  York— His  Gallantry  and  Promotion  in  the  Mexican 
War — Made  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers— Supersedes  Stone — Heroic  Ac- 
tion at  Fair  Oaks — His  Services  on  the  Peninsula — Is  Wounded  at  Antietam — 
Captures  the  Heights  of  Fredericksburg— March  of  his  Corps  to  Gettysburg- 
Commands  the  Army  of  the  Potomac— Letter  to  General  French—  Commands 
the  Right  Wing  of  Grant's  Army— Battle  of  the  Wilderness— Killed  at  Spott- 
sylvania — His  Character,  ..•..,..  411 


24  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 

PAQB 

Generals  from  Civil  Life — Logan's  Birth  and  Nativity  and  Early  Education — Serves 
in  the  Mexican  War — Studies  Law — His  Political  Life — Views  on  Being  a  Can- 
didate for  Congress  in  1860 — Fights  in  the  Ranks  at  Bull  Run — Raises  a  Regi- 
ment and  is  made  Colonel— Gallantry  at  Belmont — Fort  Henry — Desperately 
Wounded  at  Fort  Donelson — Under  Grant — His  Career  During  the  Vicksburg 
Campaign — Takes  the  Stump  for  the  Administration — Placed  Over  Sherman's 
Corps  in  the  Atlanta  Campaign — Battle  Before  Atlanta — His  Course  in  the  Polit- 
ical Campaign  of  1864 — Joins  Sherman  at  Savannah — His  Character  and  Per- 
sonal Appearance,  .  ".'..•.  .  .  .  .  .434 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  AMBROSE  E.  BURNSIDE. 

His  Ancestry  and  Nativity— Graduates  at  West  Point— Sent  to  Mexico— Fight  with 
Indians — Quartermaster  of  the  Boundary  Commission — Resigns — Establishes  a 
Manufactory  of  the  Burnside  Rifle— His  Failure — Goes  West — Obtains  Employ- 
ment in  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad — Colonel  of  a  Rhode  Island  Regiment — 
Battle  of  Bull  Run — The  Expedition  to  Roanoke — Captures  Newbern — Recalled 
to  Aid  McClellan— His  Failure  at  Antietam— Supersedes  McClellan— Battle  of 
Fredericksburg — Resigns  his  Command — Sent  to  Ohio — His  Administration  of 
Affairs — Captures  Knoxville — Besieged  by  Longstreet — Goes  East — Authorized 
to  Raise  Fifty  Thousand  Volunteers — The  Reserve  of  Grant's  Army — His  Great 
Services  in  the  Richmond  Campaign — The  Mine  at  Petersburg — Retires  from 
the  Army— His  Character,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -447 

* 

CHAPTER    XXII. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  PHILIP  HENRY  SHERIDAN. 

His  Nativity  and  Birth— From  Driving  a  Water- Cart  Passes  to  West  Point— His 
Belligerent  Character — Narrowly  Escapes  Being  Disgraced— His  Early  Services 
— Personal  Heroism — Sent  West — His  Life  in  the  Indian  Territory — Quarter- 
master under  Curtis — Is  Arrested — Made  Captain  of  Cavalry — Gallant  Fight 
near  Booneville — Promoted — Serves  under  Buell  and  Rosecrans — Fights  Despe- 


CONTENTS.  25 

PAOH 

rately  at  Murfreesboro — At  Chickamauga — Assaults  Missionary  Ridge — Placed 
Over  the  Cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac— His  Raids  on  Railroads— Put  in 
Command  of  Shenandoah  Valley — Battles  with  Early — Lays  Waste  the  Country 
— Battle  of  Middletown — His  Gallant  Conduct — Raid  to  Lynchburg  and  Rich- 
mond—Joins Grant— Commences  the  Last  Great  Movement— Battle  of  Five 
Forks— Pursuit  of  Lee— Heavy  Captures— The  End— His  Character,  .  .  460 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

His  Birth  and  Nativity— Graduates  at  West  Point— Instructor  at  the  Academy- 
Elected  President  of  Washington  College — Appointed  Major — Commands  the 
Militia  of  Missouri — Commands  the  Army  of  the  Frontier — Assesses  Disloyal 
People— Commands  the  Missouri  Department — Commands  One  of  the  Three 
Armies  of  Sherman  in  the  Atlanta  Campaign — Left  to  Take  Care  of  Hood — Bat- 
tle of  Franklin— Battle  of  Nashville— Ordered  East  to  Newbern— Battle  of  Kins- 
ton— Enters  Goldsboro— His  Character,  .  k  i,  V  ,-v  .  .  .  488 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  B.  HAZEN. 

His  Ancestry — Nativity — Early  Occupation — Enters  West  Point — Serves  Against  the 
Indians  in  California— Sent  to  Texasr— Wounded  in  a  Fight  with  the  Camanches 
— Returns  Home — Is  Appointed  Professor  at  West  Point — Made  Colonel  of  an 
Ohio  Regiment— Serves  under  Buell— Gallantry  at  Shiloh — Pursues  Bragg 
Through  the  Cumberland  Mountains-^His  Gallant  Conduct  in  the  Battle  of  Mur- 
freesboro—Holds  the  Tennessee  River — At  Chickamauga — Seizes  Brown's  Ferry 
— A  Night  Scene — Gallant  Charge  up  Missionary  Ridge — Sent  to  Relieve  Knox- 
ville— Atlanta  and  Georgia  Campaigns— Storming'  of  Fort  McAllister — Take* 
Part  in  the  Campaign  of  the  Carolinas — His  Character,  .  .  .  486 

CHAPTER    XXY. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  FRANZ  SIGEL. 

His  Nativity— Educated  in  the  Military  School  at  Carlsruhe— Made  Adjutant- 
General—Joins  the  Revolutionary  Government— Made  Minister  of  War — A  Mas- 


26  CONTENTS. 


FAOB 


terly  Retreat-  Compelled  to  Flee  to  Switzerland— Driven  from  the  Country  and 
Comes  to  the  United  States— Keeps  School  in  New  York— Removes  to  Mis- 
souri—Made Colonel  of  Volunteers— Serves  under  Lyon— Battle  of  Carthage— A 
Skillful  Retreat— Defeated  at  Wilson's  Creek— Made  Brigadier-General— His 
Gallantry  at  Pea  Ridge— Dissatisfied  with  Halleck  and  Resigns— Public  Meet- 
ing in  His  Behalf— Made  Major-General  and  Stationed  at  Harper's  Ferry— Su- 
persedes Fremont — Serves  through  Pope's  Campaign — Placed  over  the  Eleventh 
Corps — Given  Command  of  the  Shenandoah  Department  by  Grant — Defeated 
by  Breckenridge— Superseded  by  Hunter— Stationed  at  Harper's  Ferry— Re- 
signs— Becomes  Editor  of  a  German  Paper  in  Baltimore,  .  .  .  518 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
| 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ALFRED  HOWE  TERRY. 

His  Birth  and  Education— County  Clerk— Visits  Europe— Commands  a  Regiment  in 
the  Battle  of  Bull  Run— Occupies  the  Fort  on  Hilton  Head  after  its  Capture  by 
Dupont— Assists  Gillmore  in  the  Capture  of  Fort  Pulaski— Made  Brigadier- 
General  and  Sent  to  Florida — Expedition  to  Pocotaligo — Joins  Gillmore  on 
Morris  Island  in  the  Siege  of  Wagner  and  Sumter — His  Services  under  Butler 
at  Drury's  Bluff— Engaged  in  Various  Actions  Around  Petersburg  and  Rich- 
mond—Selected to  Capture  Fort  Fisher — Capture  of  the  Place— Occupies  Wil- 
mington—Opens Communication  with  Sherman— Marches  to  Goldsboro— His 
Present  Command  and  Rank,  ,~  .  ."«'•'  .  .  .  .  520 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  ALEXANDER  McCLERNAND. 

His  Nativity  and  Early  Life — Studies  Law — Volunteers  to  Fight  the  Indians — Em- 
barks in  Trade— Establishes  a  Democratic  Paper,  and  Opens  a  Law  Office— En- 
ters on  a  Political  Life — Resigns  His  Seat  in  Congress,  and  Raises  a  Brigade — 
His  Gallantry  at  Belmont— Cairo  Expedition— Battle  of  Fort  Denelson — Bravery 
at  Shiloh — Placed  over  Sherman — Captures  Arkansas  Post— Leads  the  Advance 
in  the  Campaign  of  Vicksburg — His  Great  Services — Assault  of  Vicksburg — 
His  Order  and  Letter  to  Governor  Yates— Is  Removed  by  Grant— His  Char- 
acter, .  ...  '.,,.  .  • 


CONTENTS.  27 


CHAP  TEE    XXVIII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD. 

•   FAOK 

Havelock  of  the  Army— His  Birth  and  Early  Education— At  West  Point— Sent  to 
Florida — His  Conversion — Joins  the  Methodist  Church — Appointed  Instructor 
at  West  Point — Superintendent  of  Sabbath  School— Establishes  a  Prayer  Meet- 
ing and  Bible  Class — Resigns  and  is  Appointed  Colonel  of  a  Maine  Regiment — 
Commands  a  Brigade  at  Bull  Run — Made  Brigadier — Loses  an  Arm  at  Fair 
Oaks— Gallantry  at  Antietam— His  Defeat  at  Chancellorsville— His  Great  Ser- 
vices at  Gettysburg — Sent  West  to  Reinforce  Rosecrans — Lookout  Valley— Mis- 
sion Ridge — Services  under  Hooker  in  the  Atlanta  Campaign — Succeeds 
McPherson  in  the  Command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee — Commands  the 
Right  Wing  in  the  Georgia  Campaign  and  the  Campaign  of  the  Citfolinas — 
Placed  over  the  Freedmen's  Bureau — His  Christian  Character — Abilities  as  a 
General— Anecdotes  ef  Him,  .  .  .  .  .  .538 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL   QUINCY  ADAMS  GILLMORE. 

His  Early  Life— West  Point— Sent  to  Fortress  Monroe— A  Teacher  at  West  Point- 
Stationed  in  New  York — Chief  Engineer  of  the  Expedition  to  Port  Royal — Her- 
culean Operations  Around  Pulaski — Capture  of  the  Fort — Commands  in  West- 
ern Virginia — Placed  over  the  Southern  Department — Assault  of  Fort  Wagner — 
t  Bombardment  of  Sumter— Capture  of  Fort  Wagner— Charleston  Shelled— Or- 
dered North  to  Co-operate  with  Butler  Below  Richmond— His  Services  in  the 
Field— Asks  to  be  Relieved  from  Serving  under  Butler— Ordered  to  Report  to 
Canby — Placed  again  over  the  Southern  Department — Co-operates  with  Sher- 
man, .  1.  ^  .  :V-  ..."  .553 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GOUVERNEUR  K.   WARREN. 

War  Makes  and  Mars  Fortunes  Quickly— Warren's  Nativity— Graduates  at  West 
Point— Sent  to  the  Southwest— Succeeds  Lee  on  the  Mississippi— His  Great 
Labors  in  the  Pacific  Railroad  Office — Campaign  against  the  Sioux  Indians— 


28  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

Explores  Nebraska— Appointed  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  West  Point — Made 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  Volunteers — Big  Bethel — Builds  the  Works  on  Federal 
Hill,  Baltimore — Made  Colonel— Acts  as  Brigadier  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac—His Gallantry  at  Malvern  Hill — His  Brigade  Cut  up  at  Manassas — Antie- 
tam — Topographical  Engineer  at  Chaucellorsville — Engineer-in-Chief  at  Gettys- 
burg— Narrow  Escape — Made  Major-Gefieral — Battle  of  Bristoe  Station — Com- 
mands the  Centre  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  Grant — Battle  of  the 
Wilderness — His  Gallantry  at  Spottsylvania — North  Anna — Destroys  the  Weldon 
Bailroad— Saves  Sheridan  at  Five  Forks— Relieved  from  Command— After 
Service,  <fec.,  .  .  .  .  ....  .  .563 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

, 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HORATIO  GATES  WRIGHT,      .>,'".           .  .           .      573 

MAJOR-GENERAL  EDWARD  OTHO  CRESAP  @RD,       .           .          *.           .  .    .  •    674 

MAJOR-GENERAL  ANDREW  A.  HUMPHREYS,       ......      576 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GODFREY  WEITZEL,           .           .           .           .  .           577 

MAJOR-GENERAL  F.  P.  BLAIR,    .           .           .           .           .           .  .           .578 

MAJOR-GENERAL  A.  S.  WILLIAMS,    .           .           .           .           .           .  .           579 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JEFF.  C.  DAVIS — MAJOR-GENERAL  MOWER,            ..  .           .      580 

MAJOR-GENERAL  DOBSON  Cox — MAJOR-GENERAL  PETER  J.  OSTERHAUS,  .           .      581 


APPENDIX. 


Report  of  the  Battle  of  Belmont,  Mo.,  fought  November  7, 1861,     .  .           .583 

Grant's  Orders  while  at  Memphis,             .            .           •  •    •  •    .  .             588 

Correspondence  Between  Sherman  and  the  Authorities  of  Atlanta,  i                 589 

Report  of  the  Campaign  of  the  Carolinas,            .            .       ",. ,  .           .    '          592 

General  Sherman's  Testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  War,    .  ^                 €04 


V 


i 

GRANT  AND  SHERMAN ; 


THEIR 


CAMPAIGNS  AND  GENERALS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FIRST  GREAT  PLAN  OF  CARRYING  ON  THE  WAR — THE  FAILURE  OF  HAL- 
LEOK'S  ADMINISTRATION — THE  GREAT  CHANGE  IN  AFFAIRS  WHEN  GRANT 
ASSUMED  CONTROL  OF  ODR  ARMIES — POPULAR  ERRORS  RESPECTING  GENERALS 
AND  THE  WAR — CAPABLE  LEADERS  NOT  READY-MADE,  BUT  GROW  TO  THEIB 

RESPONSIBILITIES MISTAKEN    NOTION    OF    THE    GOVERNMENT  —  WANT    OF 

CHARITY  OF  THE  PEOPLE — OUR  GENERALS  NOT  TO  BE  BLINDLY  EULOGIZED, 
BUT  THEIR  MISTAKES,  AS  WELL  AS  TRIUMPHS,  TO  BE  RECORDED — A  TRUB 
NARRATIVE  OF  THEIR  RISE  TO  GREATNESS  THE  ONLY  ONE  DESIRABLE. 

WE  propose  in  this  volume  to  take  up  the  two  mili- 
tary chieftains  and  their  principal  generals  who  brought 
this  gigantic  war  to  its  triumphant,  close.  At  the  outset 
a  great  plan  was  adopted  by  SCOTT,  and  afterward  by 
McClellan,  which,  in  its  main  features,  consisted  in  having 
two  great  armies,  one  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  the  other 
in  front  of  Washington,  move  simultaneously  forward 
east  and  west,  driving  the  rebel  armies  before  them,  and 
subduing  the  country  as  they  advanced.  The  navy,  in 
the  mean  time,  was  to  operate  against  the  hostile  sea- 
ports, closing  up  their  commerce,  or  seizing  them  as  new 
bases  of  supplies  and  movements  inland  of  such  forces 


32  GRANT   AND    SHERMAN. 

^ 

as  would  be  needed  to  cooperate  with  the  main  armies. 
This  plan  was  so  carefully  elaborated,  that  the  exact 
number  of  men  and  guns  thought  to  be  necessary  was 
given.  It  need  not  be  added  that  this  number  was  too 
small ;  for,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  no  one  north 
dr  south  comprehended  the  magnitude  of  the  struggle  on 
which  we  had  entered.  However,  the  plan  was  put  in 
operation ;  the  two  armies  moved,  and  the  western  one 
kept  on  its  victorious  march  till  it  was  stopped  at  Vicks- 
burg.  The  eastern  one  planted  itself  before  Richmond, 
while  Burnside  made  a  lodgment  on  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina.  The  failure  at  Richmond,  and  the  removal  of 
McClellan,  though  they  did  not  cause  any  new  plan  to 
be  adopted,  left  the  old  one  in  abeyance  ;  and  during  the 
two  years  that  Halleck  was  general-in-chief,  the  war 
seemed  to  resolve  itself  into  separate  engagements,  which 
gave  us  no  permanent  advantage,  and  took  us  not  one 
step  nearer  the  close  of  the  conflict. 

The  commencement  of  Halleck's  reign  was  distin- 
guished, in  the  east,  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  army  from 
the  James — where  every  military  man  of  sense  knew  it 
would  have  to  be  placed  again — the  defeat  of  Pope,  and 
the  invasion  of  Maryland ;  in  the  west,  by  the  retreat 
of  Buell  from  before  Chattanooga  to  Nashville,  the  in- 
vasion of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  by  Kirby  Smith  and 
Bragg  till  their  forces  threatened  even  Cincinnati,  the 
evacuation  of  Cumberland  Gap  by  Morgan,  and  the  sur- 
render of  all  East  Tennessee  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels. 

This  sad  beginning  was  made  worse  by  the  terrible 
defeat  of  Burnside  at  Fredericksburg,  the  equally  dis- 
astrous failure  of  Hooker  at  Chancellorsville,  and  the 
invasion  of  Pennsylvania  by  Lee.  West,  Rosecrans 
finally  pushed  on  to  Chattanooga,  but  was  stopped  there, 


THE    FIRST    GREAT    PLAN.  33 

while  everything  indicated  that  he  would  be  compelled  to 
retreat,  and  the  campaigns  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  all 
have  to  be  fought  over  again.  Never  did  a  general-in- 
ch ief  before  make  up  in  so  short  a  time  so  sad  a  record. 
That  the  President  retained  him  in  power  so  long,  under 
such  an  accumulation  of  disasters,  filled  the  country  with 
surprise.  The  removal  of  subordinate  leaders  did  not 
reach  the  source  of  the  difficulty,  and  the  war  seemed 
farther  than  ever  from  its  end,  till  the  European  powers 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  never  could  end,  except  in 
the  independence  of  the  South.  But  for  the  triumphs  of 
the  man  who  was  soon  to  displace  the  incapable  general- 
in-chief,  and  change  all  this;  the  discouragement  of  the 
patriot  would  have  well-nigh  reached  despair. 

When  Grant  assumed  the  chief  command,  a  new 
spirit  was  breathed  into  this  chaotic  mass ;  oj*der  began 
to  spring  out  of  confusion,  as  at  the  creation  of  the 
world  ;  sea  and  land  became  separated,  and  harmony  and 
design  appeared  where  before  blind  chance  seemed  to 
rule. 

But  although  this  great  change  came  over  the  aspect 
of  military  affairs  the  moment  Grant  and  Sherman  were 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  two  grand  armies  of  the  Union, 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  were  the  only  two  . 
great  generals  the  war  had  produced,  or  the  only  ones 
who  were  able  to  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue.  It  is  an 
error  to  imagine,  as  many  do,  that  the  Government  kept 
casting  about  for  men  fit  to  do  the  work  these  men  did, 
and,  after  long  searching,  at  length  found  them.  Seve- 
ral were  displaced,  who  would  have,  doubtless,  succeeded 
in  bringing  us  ultimate  victory,  had  they  been  allowed 
a  fair  trial.  The  error  was  in  supposing  that  men,  capa- 
ble of  controlling  such  vast  armies,  and  carrying  on  a 

3 


34  GRANT   AND    SHERMAN. 

war  of  such  magnitude  and  covering  almost  a  con- 
tinent iii  its  su>pe,  were  to  be  found  ready-made.  They 
were  riot  to  leap  forth,  like  Minerva  from  the  head 
of  Jupiter,  completely  panoplied  and  ready  for  the  ser 
vice  to  which  they  were  destined.  A  war  of  such  mag 
nitude,  and  covering  the  territory  that  ours  did,  would 
have  staggered  the  genius  of  Napoleon,  or  the  skill  of 
Wellington,  even  at  the  close  of  their  long  experience 
and  training.  To  expect,  therefore,  that  officers,  who 
had  never  led  ten  thousand  men  to  battle,  were  sud- 
denly to  become  capable  of  wielding  half  a  million,  was 
absurd.  Both  the  army  and  the  leaders,  as  well  as  the 
nation,  had  to  grow  by  experience  to  the  vastness  of 
the  undertaking.  A  mighty  military  genius,  capable  at 
once  of  comprehending  and  controlling  the  condition  of 
things,  would  have  upset  the  government  in  six  months. 
Trammelled,  confined,  and  baffled  by  "ignorance  and  un- 
belief," it  would  have  taken  matters  into  its  own  hand. 
Besides,  such  prodigies  do  not  appear  every  century.  We 
were  children  in  such  a  complicated  and  wide-sweeping 
struggle ;  and,  like  children,  were  compelled  to  learn  to 
walk  by  many  a  stumble.  Greene,  next  to  Washington, 
was  the  greatest  general  our  revolutionary  war  produced ; 
yet,  in  almost  his  first  essay,  he  lost  Fort  Washington, 
with  its  four  thousand  men,  and  seriously  crippled  his 
great  leader.  But  Washington  had  the  sagacity  to  dis- 
cern his  military  ability  beneath  his  failure,  arid  still  gave 
him  his  confidence.  To  a  thinking  man,  that  was  evidently 
the  only  way  for  us  to  get  a  competent  general — one  capa- 
ble of  planning  and  carrying  out  a  great  campaign.  Here 
was  our  vital  error.  The  Government  kept  throwing  dice 
for  able  commanders.  It  is  true  that  experience  will  not 
make  a  great  man  out  of  a  naturally  weak  one ;  but  it  is 


FALSE    VIEWS    OF    GENERALS.  35 

equally  true  that  without  it,  a  man  of  great  natural  mili- 
tary capacity  will  not  be  equal  to  vast  responsibilities  and 
combinations.  Our  experience  proved  this;  for  both 
Grant  and  Sherman  came  very  near  sharing  the  fate  of 
many  that  preceded  them.  Nothing  but  the  President's 
friendship  and  tenacity  saved  the  former  after  the  battle 
of  Pittsburgh  Landing.  His  overthrow  was  determined 
on ;  while  the  latter  was  removed  from  the  department  of 
Kentucky,  as  a  crazy  man.  Great  by  nature,  they  were 
fortunately  kept  where  they  could  grow  to  the  new  and 
strange  condition  of  things,  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
struggle  into  which  we  had  been  thrown.  If  the  process 
of  changing  commanders  the  moment  they  did  not  keep 
pace  with  the  extravagant  expectations  of  the  country, 
and  equally  extravagant  predictions  of  the  Government, 
had  been  continued,  we  should  have  been  floundering  to 
this  day  amid  chaos  and  uncertainty. 

The  same  principle  will  apply  to  the  Government.  To 
expect  that  it  would  rise  at  once  to  the  true  magnitude 
and  comprehensiveness  of  this  unprecedented  war,  was  un- 
just Errors  on  its  part  were  as  inevitable,  as  mistakes 
on  the  part  of  generals.  The  Administration  had  got  to 
grow  to  the  new  and  complicated  condition  of  things,  as 
well  as  the  army  and  the  leaders.  Not  recognizing  this 
necessity,  made  the  people  very  wanting  in  charity  and 
proper  consideration  for  the  Government.  Many  talked 
and  acted  as  if  they  thought  that  the  mere  fact  that  a 
man  was  President,  rendered  him  equal  to  any  emergency 
and  to  any  demand.  The  President,  like  the  people 
themselves,  and  the  army  and  the  generals,  must  gradual- 
ly and  through  many  errors  feel  his  way  to  the  true  com- 
prehension of  such  an  unprecedented  struggle.  We 
demanded  that  neither  should  make  any  mistakes,  and 


S6  GRANT   AND    SHERMAN. 

looking  only  at  our  vast  power  and  resources,  were  im- 
patient that  they  were  not  gathered  up  at  once,  and 
wielded  with  a  skill  and  prescience  superhuman.  In 
rihort,  we  demanded  that  men,  suddenly  placed  in  the 
most  difficult  positions  that  ever  tried  the,  capacity  of 
mortals,  should  do  what  nobody  but  a  weak  and  vain 
person  pretended  he  himself  could  have  done,  were  he  to 
stand  in  their  place.  After  events  have  transpired,  it  is 
a  common  and  withal  an  easy  and  shallow  criticism  to 
say,  u  It  could  have  been  better  done.*11  In  art,  literature, 
and  war,  it  is  all  the  same.  Any  one  can  say  it,  and 
claim  wisdom  in  the  utterance. 

We  have  said  this  much,  because  in  the  present 
work  we  do  not  design  to  indulge  in  blind  eulogy,  but 
shall  speak  of  errors,  as  well  as  successes — show  how  cir- 
cumstances developed  character  and  wrought  out  great- 
ness. Truly  great  men  do  not  like  indiscriminate  flattery. 
Aware  that  they  have  gained  by  experience,  even  by 
defeats  themselves,  they  cheerfully  acknowledge  it,  and 
repudiate  the  claim  of  perfect  wisdom  and  a  sagacity  that 
never  allowed  them  to  err.  They  love  truth  as  well  as 
praise,  and  the  more  discriminating  the  latter  is,  the 
higher  it  is  prized.  The  ability  to  redeem  errors,  and 
obtain  final  success  in  spite  of  mistakes,  is  the  strongest 
evidence  of  true  greatness.  Next  to  being  great  one's 
self,  is  the  sagacity  to  see  capacity  in  others,  and  thus 
be  able  to  select  the  instruments  appropriate  for  the  work 
to  be  done.  In  this  respect,  both  Grant  and  Sherman 
were  distinguished  above  ordinary  men. 


CHAPTER  II. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT. 

HIS  ANCESTRY  AND  NATIVITY — BROUGHT  UP  A  TANNER — ENTERS  WEST  POIN1 
MILITARY  ACADEMY — BREVETTED  SECOND  LIEUTENANT,  AND  SENT  TO  JEF- 
FERSON BARRACKS,  MO. — JOINS  TAYLOR'S  ARMY  IN  MEXICO — AFTER  THE 
BATTLE  OF  MONTEHEY,  TRANSFERRED  TO  SCOTT'S  ARMY  AT  VERA  CRUZ- 
MADE  QUARTERMASTER  OF  HIS  REGIMENT — BREVETTED  CAPTAIN  FOR  GAL- 
LANTRY AT  CHAPULTEPEO — HIS  MARRIAGE — STATIONED  AT  DETROIT  AND 
SACKETT'S  HARBOR — SENT  TO  OREGON — RESIGNS  HIS  COMMISSION — SETTLES 
ON  A  FARM,  NEAR  ST.  LOUIS — ACTS  AS  COLLECTOR  OF  DEBTS  FOR  HIS  NEIGH- 
BORS— GOES  TO  GALENA  AND  SETS  UP  A  LEATHER-STORE  IN  CONNECTION 
WITH  HIS  FATHER — BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE  WAR — OFFERS  HIS  SERVICES  TO 
THE  GOVERNMENT,  AND  RAISES  A  COMPANY — MADE  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  OJf 
THE  STATE — REFUSES  A  BRIGADIERSHIP — APPOINTED  COLONEL  AND  SENT 
INTO  MISSOURI — MADE  BRIGADIER,  AND  ASSIGNED  TO  THE  DISTRICT  OF  CAIRp 
—  EXPEDITION  TO  BELMONT,  AND  CAPTURE  OF  THE  ENEMY'S  CAMP— HIS  HORSB 

SHOT  UNDER  HIM — HIS  CONGRATULATORY  ORDER — HIS  DISTRICT  ENLARGED — 
THE  CAIRO  EXPEDITIONS — A  STRICT  ORDER — PRIVATE  PROPERTY  TO  BE  RES- 
PECTED— EXPEDITION  AGAINST  FORT  HENRY— INVESTMENT  AND  CAPTURE  OF 
FORT  DONEI.6ON — THE  BATTLE — ORDERED  UNDER  ARREST — PUT  OVER  THE 
WEST  TENNESSEE  DEPARTMENT — ADVANCES  TO  PITTSBURG  LANDING  —  BAT- 
TLE OF — HIS  DEFEAT  FIRST  DAY — SHERMAN'S  LETTER — DETERMINATION  TO 
REMOVE  HIM  FROM  COMMAND  —CHARGES  AGAINST — FATE  CEASES  TO  PERSE- 
CUTE HIM — HIS  STAR  IN  THE  ASCENDANT — ADVANCE  AGAINST  CORINTH — 

LOSES    HIS    TEMPER    WITH    HALLECK — HIS    CONDUCT    AT     MEMPHIS BATTLES 

OF  1UKA  AND  CORINTH — TURNS  HIS  ATTENTION  TO  VICKSBURG — SHERMAN'S 
FAILURE  AT  VICKSBURG. 

HIRAM  ULYSSES  GRANT,  or,  as  he  is  known,  Ulysses 
S.  Grant,  is  of  Scotch  descent,  and  in  those  great  quali- 
ties which  distinguish  him,  shows  that  the  Scotch  blood 
still  flows  strongly  through  his  veins.  His  father  was  a 


S8  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

native  of  Westmoreland  Co.,  Pennsylvania,  but  in  1794 
removed  to  Ohio.  Ulysses  was  born  at  Point  Pleasant, 
Clermont  Co.,  of  the  latter  State,  April  27th,  1822.  His 
father  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  to  which  business  he  also 
was  brought  up.  Receiving  only  the  limited  education 
which  at  the  time  could  be  furnished  in  what  was  called 
the  Far  West,  he  grew  up  a  sturdy  youth,  differing  little 
from  scores  of  hard-working  young  men  around  him. 
When  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  succeeded,  through  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Hamer,  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio, 
in  obtaining  an  appointment  in  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point.  He  labored  under  great  disadvantage, 
in  comparison  with  many  young  men  in  his  class,  in  his 
want  of  knowledge  of  the  preparatory  studies  which  they 
possessed.  He  made  up,  however,  for  all  deficiencies  in 
this  respect,  by  his  close  application  and  perseverance. 

A  mistake  in  entering  his  name  on  the  books  at  West 
Point,  changed  it  from  the  baptismal  one.  His  grand- 
mother wished  him  named  Ulysses,  after  the  Grecian 
hero,  but  his  grandfather  preferred  that  of  Hiram  ;  so  the 
matter  was  compromised  by  calling  him  Hiram  Ulysses. 
Mr.  Hamer,  in  presenting  his  name  for  a  cadetship,  by 
mistake  wrote  it  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  With  that  name, 
therefore,  he  graduated,  and  by  it  has  ever  since  gone. 
He  graduated  in  1843,  No.  21  in  his  class,  which  indicated 
only  a  good  respectable  standing.  Appointed  brevet 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Fourth  Regular  Infantry,  he 
joined  his  regiment,  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  and 
the  next  spring  moved  with  it  up  the  Red  River,  to  do 
frontier  duty.  In  1845,  when  trouble  began  to  arise 
between  this  'country  and  Mexico,  Taylor  was  sent  to 
Corpus  Christi  with  an  "Army  of  Occupation,"  of  which 
Grant's  regiment  formed  a  part.  He  was  soon  after  pro- 


THE    YOUTH    OF    GRANT.  39 

moted  to  a  full  second  lieutenant.  In  1846  war  was 
declared  by  Mexico,  and  Grant's  active  military  life  com- 
menced. He  marched  with  Taylor  from  Point  Isabel, 
and  participated  in  the  battles  of  Besaca  and  Palo  Alto. 
"When  the  army  moved  into  the  interior,  his  regiment 
accompanied  it,  and  took  part  in  the  hotly-contested 
battle  of  Monterey.  Transferred  to  the  army  of  General 
Scott,  he  was  appointed  quartermaster  of  his  regiment, 
and  took  part  in  every  battle  between  Vera  Cruz  and  the 
City  of  Mexico.  For  his  gallantry  at  Molino  del  Bey, 
he  was  appointed  brevet  first  lieutenant.  In  the  battle 
of  Chapultepec,  which  occurred  a  few  days  after,  he  so  ^ 
distinguished  himself,  that  he  was  brevetted  captain,  and 
honorably  mentioned  in  the  despatches.  He  with  Cap- 
tain Brooks,  and  a  few  men,  by  a  skilful  move  on  the  left 
flank  of  the  enemy  at  the  first  barrier,  compelled  the 
Mexicans  to  seek  safety  in  flight.  His  intrepidity  on  the 
occasion  was  so  conspicuous,  that  Garland  made  special 
mention  of  him.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  married  a 
Miss  Dent,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  soon  after  was 
stationed  at  Detroit.  From  thence  he  was  transferred  to 
Sackett's  Harbor.  Subsequently,  a  force  being  sent  to 
Oregon,  he  accompanied  it,  and  here,  in  1852,  received 
his  full  commission  as  captain.  The  next  year  he  re- 
signed his  commission,  and  settled  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
on  a  small  farm  near  his  father-in-law.  The  rough  life, 
however,  to  which  he  was  now  subjected,  did  not  suit 
him,  nor  the  duties  of  a  collector  of  debts,  which  he  at 
one  time  undertook  to  be,  for  his  neighbors. 

The  young  captain  was  getting  along  indifferently  well 
in  Missouri,  and  the  prospect  before  him  was  not  very 
flattering,  when  he  received  a  letter  from  his  father,  invit- 
ing him  to  go  into  the  leather-trade  with  him.  Glad  of 


40  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

a  chance  to  improve  his  condition,  lie  at  once  removed  to 
Galena,  Illinois,  and  in  1859  settled  down  to  the  leather 
business,  for  which  his  military  career  was  not  the  best 
preparation  he  could  have  had. 

The  sign  of  "  Grant  &  Son,  Leather  Dealers,"  in  the 
far  West,  stands  in  strong  contrast  to  the  name  of  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Grant,  as  live  years  after  it  stood  written 
in  the  front  of  the  temple  of  military  fame. 

The  prospect  before  him  at  this  time  was,  that  he  would 
obtain  a  fair  competence  in  his  business,  and  live  and 
die  a  respectable  citizen  of  Galena.  But  the  troubles 
that  had  long  been  brewing  between  the  North  and 
South  came  to  a  head  on  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Grant  had  voted  against  him,  for  he  saw,  like  many 
others,  the  danger  to  the  Republic  of  a  sectional  issue. 
But  when  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Suinter  startled 
the  nation,  his  old  military  ardor  was  aroused.  The  flag 
under  which  he  had  so  often  perilled  his  life  had  been 
struck  down  by  traitors,  and  his  business  was  at  once  cast 
to  the  winds.  Saying,  u  Uncle  Sam  educated  me  for  the 
army ;  and  although  I  have  served  faithfully  through  one 
war,  I  feel  that  I  am  still  a  little  in  debt  for  my  education, 
and  I  am  ready  to  discharge  it  and  put  clown  this  rebel- 
lion." He  immediately  organized  a  company  and  tendered 
it  to  the  Governor,  and  applied  for  a  commission  ;  but,  it 
is  said,  failed  to  get  it.  Applications  of  that  sort  were 
mmii.TOUs  enough,  and,  at  that  period  of  the  war,  reserved 
too  much  for  political  friends.  The  Governor,  however, 
being  ignorant  of  the  details  of  military  organization, 
employed  him  to  assist  in  organizing  the  quota  of  the 
State,  as  Adjutant- General. 

T\\vo  weeks  after,  Governor  Yates  proposed  to  send  his 
name  to  Washington  for  the  appointment  of  Brigadier- 


HIS   FIRST    EXPEDITION.  41 

General.  Grant  refused  his  consent,  curtly  replying  that 
he  did  not  ask  promotion,  he  wanted  to  earn  it. 

In  June,  1861,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the 
Twenty-first  Regiment,  that  its  own  colonel  could  not 
manage ;  and  though  his  rather  shabby  appearance  at  first 
excited  the  soldiers'  ridicule,  they  soon  found  they  had  a 
man  to  deal  with  who  was  accustomed  to  obedience. 

He  was  first  sent  into  Missouri,  but  in  August,  being 
made  Brigadier-General,  he  was  assigned  to  the  district  of 
Cairo.  He  at,  once  took  possession  of  Paducah,  an  im- 
portant position  for  future  operations. 

The  enemy  at  this  time  had  a  large  force,  under  Polk, 
at  Columbus,  also  a  camp  and  garrison  opposite,  at  Bel- 
mont.  Grant,  finding  his  force  too  small  to  attack  the 
former  place,  determined  to  break  up  the  camp  at  the  lat- 
ter. The  object  of  the  expedition,  he  said,  was  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  sending  out  reinforcements  to  Price's 
army  in  Missouri,  and  also  from  cutting  oif  columns  that 
he  had  despatched  after  Jeff.  Thompson.  In  order  not  to 
be  overwhelmed  by  the  garrison  at  Columbus,  he  asked 
General  Smith,  commanding  at  Paducah,  to  make  a  de- 
monstration against  the  former  place,  which  he  did,  by 
sending  a  small  force,  that  was  not  to  advance  nearer,  how- 
ever, than  twelve  or  fifteen  miles.  He  also  despatched 
another  small  force  on  the  Kentucky  side,  for  the  same 
purpose,  with  directions  not  to  advance  nearer  than  Elli- 
cott's  Mills,  twelve  miles  from  Columbus.  These  demon- 
strations against  a  place,  with  small  detachments  halting 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  away,  we  hardly  think  he.  would 
order  now. 

The  force  under  his.  own  command  .was  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  strong.  These  were  embarked  in 
transports  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  November,  and 


42  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

moved  down  to  the  foot  of  Island  No.  Ten,  within 
eleven  miles  of  Columbus,  where  they  stopped  for  the 
night,  tied  up  to  the  Kentucky  shore.  At  daylight,  next 
morning,  the  transports  moved  quietly  down-stream  till 
almost  within  range  of  the  rebel  guns,  when  they  were 
quickly  pushed  to  the  Missouri  shore,  and  the  troops 
landed.  The  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington  accompanied 
them. 

The  cannon  were  hauled  by  hand  up  the  steep  banks, 
amid  dropping  shot  and  shell  from  the  rebel  encampment, 
from  which,  as  it  occupied  an  elevated  position,  Grant's 
movements  could  be  distinctly  seen. 

The  troops,  after  landing,  passed  through  some  corn- 
fields and  halted,  preparatory  to  an  advance.  Colonel 
Buford  was  ordered  to  make  a  detour  to  the  right,  and 
come  down  on  the  rebel  camp  in  that  direction.  The 
main  army  then  moved  forward  till  it  arrived  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  the  abattis  that  the  rebels  had  piled 
in  their  front.  This  was  composed  of  trees,  that  for 
several  hundred  yards  had  been  felled  with  their  tops 
pointing  outward,  and  the  limbs  sharpened,  so  that  a 
dense  breastwork  of  points  confronted  any  force  advanc- 
ing down  the  river.  The  gunboats  in  the  meantime 
were  engaging  the  batteries  at  Columbus. 

As  the  columns  advanced,  the  dropping  fire  of  the 
skirmishers  showed  that  the  enemy  had  been  met,  and 
was  determined  to  dispute  every  inch  of  ground  to  their 
encampment.  The  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first  having  been 
sent  forward  to  relieve  the  skirmishers,  a  spirited  action 
was  commenced,  which  lasted  for  half  an  hour,  in  which 
our  ranks  w^ere  thrown  into  disorder.  Colonels  Foulke 
and  Logan,  however,  soon  rallied  them,  and  drove  the 
enemy  back  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  where,  being  rein- 


BATTLE    OF   BELMONT.  43 

forced,  they  attempted  to  turn  McClernand's  left  flank. 
Being  defeated  in  this  by  a  prompt  movement  of  Colonel 
Logan,  and  suddenly  swept  by  a  fierce  fire  of  artillery  and 
musketry,  they  began  to  show  signs  of  wavering.  Foulke 
and  Logan,  sword  in  hand,  shouted  to  their  men,  urging 
them  forward  by  stirring  appeals,  which  were  answered 
with  cheers,  and  these  raw  troops  stood  up  like  veterans 
to  their  work. 

The  officers,  however,  had  to  set  the  example  of  ex- 
posure, for  now,  added  to  the  fire  in  front,  the  batteries 
at  Columbus,  which  had  ceased  firing  at  the  gunboats, 
sent  their  huge  projectiles  crashing  through  the  tree-tops 
overhead.  Grant  and  McClernand  were  both  in  the  thick- 
est of  the  fight,  exposing  themselves  like  the  commonest 
soldier.  The  latter,  while  leading  a  gallant  charge,  re- 
ceived a  ball  in  his  holster ;  and  the  horse  of  Grant  was 
killed  under  him.  While  this  struggle  was  going  on,  a 
tremendous  fire  from  the  Twenty-seventh  broke  over  the 
woods,  to  the  right  and  rear  of  the  rebel  encampment. 
The  other  regiments  having  now  worked  their  way  into 
line  through  the  brushwood,  the  whole  closed  sternly  up 
on  three  sides  of  the  abattis  at  once,  and  sweeping  rapidly 
forward,  drove  the  enemy  pell-mell  through  it.  Follow- 
ing close  on  their  heels,  our  excited  troops  dashed  through 
and  over  with  a  cheer.  The  sight  of  the  Twenty-seventh 
in  the  open  space  beyond  roused  all  their  ardor,  and  they, 
too,  soon  stood  in  the  clear  ground  around  the  cainp.  The 
artillery  opened  on  the  tents,  not  three  hundred  yards  dis- 
tant, and  the  rebels  broke  for  the  river  and  the  woods  like  a 
flock  of  frightened  sheep.  A  detachment  having  rallied 
in  the  woods,  McClernand  galloped  thither,  and  came  near 
losing  his  life — one  ball  grazing  his  head,  another  hitting 
his  horse  in  the  shoulder,  while  others  cut  his  trappings. 


44  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

The  camp  being  ours,  McClernand  called  for  three 
cheers  for  the  Union,  which  were  given  with  a  will ;  the 
flag  went  proudly  up,  while  the  bands  struck  up  national 
airs.  The  torch  was  then  applied  to  the  tents  and  bag- 
gage, and  in  a  moment  the  spot  was  wrapt  in  flames  and 
smoke.  The  enraged  enemy  across  the  river  at  Columbus 
now  turned  their  batteries  on  the  smoking  camp,  and  soon 
shot  and  shell  were  hurtling  through  the  air  on  every  side. 
Grant  saw  at  once  that  he  could  not  stay  here ;  and  to 
hasten  his  departure,  he  was  told  that  the  rebels  at  Colum- 
bus had  thrown  a  large  force  across  the  river,  directly  in 
his  rear,  and  between  him  and  his  transports.  The  ar- 
tillery was  immediately  turned  on  them,  while  Logan 
ordered  his  flag  to  the  front,  and  moved  straight  on  the 
enemy,  followed  by  the  whole  army,  except  Buford's 
Regiment,  the  Twenty-seventh,  and  two  Cavalry  com- 
panies, that  returned  by  the  same  circuitous  route  by 
which  they  advanced. 

The  rebels  gave  way  as  our  banners  advanced,  and 
the  transports  were  again  reached,  and  the  troops  hurried 
on  board.  Col.  Dougherty,  while  hurrying  up  the  rear, 
was  shot  three  times ;  and  his  horse  falling  on  him,  he 
was  taken  prisoner. 

It  was  a  spirited  contest.  The  Seventh  Iowa  especially 
, fought  gallantly,  losing  their  lieutenant-colonel  and 
major,  the  colonel  himself  being  wounded.  Our  total 
loss  was  about  three  hundred,  while  that  of  the  rebels 
was  nearly  a  thousand — a  great  disparity,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  we  were  the  attacking  party, 
and  the  former  fought  a  part  of  the  time  behind  defences. 
Two  guns  were  brought  off,  and  two  more  spiked,  and 
some  battle-flags  captured,  together  with  many  prisoners, 
Grant  was  delighted  with  the  conduct  of  his  men  and 


'  THE   VICTORY.  45 

officers,  and,  in  a  letter  to  his  father,  giving  an  account 
of  the  battle,  he  said,  "  I  am  truly  proud  to  command 
such  men." 

He  issued  a  congratulatory  order  to  his  troops,  tho 
first  he  ever  penned  after  a  battle,  which  stands  in  such 
striking  contrast  to  those  of  his  later  campaigns,  that  we 
give  it  entire : 

HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT,  S.  C.,  Mo. ,  > 
CAIRO,  November  8,  1861.  f 

The  General  commanding  this  Military  District  returns  his  thanks  to  the 
troops  undo:-  his  command  at  the  battle  of  Belmont  on  yesterday. 

It  has  been  his  fortune  to  have  been  in  all  the  battles  fought  in  Mexico 
by  Generals  Scott  and  Taylor,  except  Buena  Vista,  and  he  never  saw  un<x 
more  hotly  contested,  or  where  troops  behaved  with  more  gallantry. 

Such  courage  will  insure  victory  wherever  our  flag  m;iy  be  borne  and 
protected  by  such  a  class  of  men.  To  the  brave  men  wfeo  fell  the  sympathy 
of  the  country  is  due,  and  will  be  manifested  in  a  manner  unmistakable. 

U.  S.  GEANT, 
Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

Though  this  action  was  gallantly  fought,  it  injured, 
rather  than  helped,  the  opening  prospects  of  Grant.  It 
being  generally  thought  that  -the  object  of  the  expedition 
was  to  take  Columbus,  it  was  regarded  as  a  total  failure, 
and  so  reported  by  the  rebels. 

Even  afterwards,  when  its  true  object  was  made 
known,  the  praise  awarded  him  was  faint.  It  was  not 
clear  how  marching  into  a  hostile  camp,  and  then  re- 
treating, could  effect  the  object  he  said  he  wished  to  se- 
cure. A  few  hours  would  suffice  to  reestablish  the  camp 
and  restore  things  to  their  old  status,  and  the  movements 
he  proposed  to  check  could  go  on  as  well  as  ever.  As  a 
lesson  of  experience  to  the  men,  it  was,  doubtless,  valua- 
ble ;  but,  on  the  whole,  one  fails  to  see  what  good  was 
actually  accomplished  that  would  compensate  for  the  loss, 
or  discern  the  wisdom  of  the  expedition.  Since  the  close 


46  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

of  the  war,  however,  Grant  has,  for  the  first  time,  pub- 
lished his  report  of  the  expedition,  which  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix,  No.  A. 

His  next  movement,  also,  failed  to  awaken  any  general 
confidence  in  his  ability.  During  the  winter,  Halleck, 
having  been  appointed  over  the  Western  Department, 
enlarged  Grant's  district,  who  began  to  assemble  troops 
in  Paducah,  and  at  other  points,  to  be  ready  for  a  move- 
ment upon  the  enemy.  In  the  very  heart  of  winter  it 
commenced,  and  three  grand  columns,  under  Paine, 
McClernand,  and  C.  F.  Smith,  in  all  nineteen  regiments 
of  infantry,  six  of  cavalry,  and  seven  batteries,  moved 
off,  as  it  was  supposed,  against  Columbus.  "  The  Cairo 
Expedition,"  as  it  was  called,  ended  in  nothing.  Mc- 
Clernand, with  some  five  thousand  men,  made  a  march 
of  seventy-five  miles  over  ice,  and  through  snow  and 
mud,  while  the  cavalry  marched  a  hundred  and  forty,  and 
came  back  again,  reporting  that  some  new  roads  had  been 
discovered,  foolish  reports  exploded,  the  inhabitants  im- 
pressed with  our  military  strength,  &c.,  and  that  was  all. 
Doubtless  Grant  had  some  plan  for  taking  Columbus, 
but  found  himself  unable  to  carry  it  out.  This  second 
essay  certainly  did  not  promise  much  for  his  future  repu- 
tation. He  had  thus  far  exhibited  only  moderate  ability. 
He,  however,  had  shown,  in  two  orders  which  he  issued, 
the  temper  of  the  man.  Some  of  his  pickets  being  shot 
near  Cairo,  he  ordered  all  the  inhabitants  within  six 
miles  to  be  brought  into  camp  and  properly  guarded. 
"The  intention,"  he  said,  "was  not  to  make  political 
prisoners  of  these  people,  but  to  cut  off  a  dangerous  class 
of  spies."  "This  order,"  he  said,  "applied  to  all  classes, 
conditions,  age,  and  sex." 

The  other  was  designed  to  guide  the  conduct  of  the 


CAIRO   EXPEDITION.  47 

troops  in  the  grand  "Cairo  Expedition."  He  said, 
"  Disgrace  having  been  brought  upon  our  brave  fellows  by 
the  bad  conduct  of  some  of  their  members,  showing,  on  all 
occasions,  when  passing  through  territory  occupied  by 
sympathizers  of  the  enemy,  a  total  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  citizens,  and  being  guilty  of  wanton  destruction  of 
private  property,  the  General  Commanding  desires  and 
intends  to  enforce  a  change  in  this  respect."  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  It  is  ordered  that  the  severest  punishment  be  inflicted 
upon  every  soldier  who  is  guilty  of  taking  or  destroying 
private  property,  and  any  commissioned  officer  guilty  of 
like  conduct,  or  of  countenancing  it,  shall  be  deprived  of 
his  sword,  and  expelled  from  the  army,  not  to  be  per- 
mitted to  return,"  etc. 

It  will  stand  recorded  to  his  enduring  honor,  that, 
amid  all  the  exasperation,  public  clamor,  and  private 
temptations,  that  carried  so  many  beyond  the  limits  and 
laws  of  civilized  warfare,  he  maintained  a  character  above 
reproach.  Many  of  our  officers  were  guilty  of  atrocious 
violations  of  private  property,  whose  conduct  has  thus  far 
escaped  public  condemnation;  but  when  the  present 
chaotic  state  of  affairs  has  wholly  given  place  to  calm 
reflection  and  Christian  feeling,  they  will  stand  side  by 
side  in  history  with  those  epauletted  marauders  that  dis- 
graced the  English  flag,  both  in  our  first  and  second  wars 
with  England. 

Grant's  record  in  this  respect  is  untarnished.  What 
he  was  at  first,  he  continued  to  be  to  the  last,  temperate 
in  judgment,  dispassionate  in  feeling,  and  forbearing  in 
the  hour  of  victory. 

When,  for  the  third  time,  public  attention  was  fixed 
on  Grant,  fortune  seemed  still  unwilling  to  smile  upon 
him.  Foote  had  been  engaged  all  winter  in  preparing  a 


48  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

fleet  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  and  the  public  supposed 
that  Columbus  was  to  be  the  first  point  attacked ;  but  in 
the  previous  autumn  a  different  plan  had  been  discussed 
at  Washington,  arid  when  Buell  was  assigned  to  Ken- 
tucky, he  took  it  with  him.  This  was  to  ascend  the 
Cumberland  and  Tennessee  rivers,  that  flow  north  to 
the  Ohio,  and  thus  flank  Columbus,  and  pierce  the  heart 
of  Tennessee.  The  land  force  was  put  under  General 
Grant,  and  early  in  February  the  expedition  set  out 
He  divided  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  the  garrison,  when  it  should  be  driven  out  of  the  fort 
by  Footers  shells. 

When  the  latter,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  was  un- 
mooring from  the  bank  where  the  fleet  had  lain  all  night, 
several  miles  below  the  fort,  he  told  Grant  that  he  must 
hurry  forward  his  columns,  or  he  would  not  be  up  in 
time  to  take  part  in  the  action,  and  secure  the  prisoners. 
The  latter  smiled  incredulously.  But  recent  rains  had 
made  the  cart-paths  and  roads  so  heavy,  that  his  pro- 
gress was  slow.  As  he  toiled  fonvard,  the  heavy  can- 
nonading, as  Foote  advanced  to  the  attack,  broke  over  the 
woods,  and  rolled  in  deep  vibrations  down  the  shore, 
quickening  his  movements.  Before,  however,  the  fort 
was  reached,  the  firing  ceased.  Grant  was  perplexed  at 
the  sudden  termination  of  the  contest ;  it  did  not  seem 
possible  that  the  fort  had  been  taken  so  soon  ;  it  was  far 
more  probable  that  the  gunboats  had  fallen  back  disabled. 
He  sent  scouts  forward  to  ascertain  the  truth,  which 
soon  came  galloping  back  with  the  news  that  our  flag  was 
flying  above  the  fort.  The  unexpected  tidings  rolled  down 
the  line,  followed  by  long  and  deafening  cheers.  Grant, 
with  his  staff,  spurred  forward,  and  in  half  an  hour  rode 
into  the  fort,  which  was  immediately  turned  over  to  him. 


INVESTMENT   OF   FORT   DONELSON.  49 

It  was  a  great  victory,  but  unfortunately  he  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  contest  that  secured  it,  nor  did  'he  arrive  in 
time  to  prevent  the  escape  of  a  large  portion  of  the  garri- 
son. He  determined,  however,  in  his  next  movement,  to 
make  up  for  his  disappointment  in  this.  The  reduction 
of  Fort  Henry,  on  the  Tennessee,  was  only  a  preliminary 
step  to  the  reduction  of  Fort  Donelson,  nearly  opposite 
on  the  Cumberland,  some  twelve  miles  distant,  and  the 
key  to  Nashville.  Leaving  a  garrison  in  the  former, 
Grant  struck  across  the  country,  with  his  army  of  fifteen 
thousand  men,  while  six  regiments  were  sent  off  by  water 
to  cooperate  with  the  gunboats,  which  were  to  attack 
the  fort  from  the  river-side. 

Foote  having  arrived  first  before  the  fort,  and  landed 
the  troops  and  supplies  for  the  main  army,  advanced 
against  it  on  the  14th,  and  endeavored  to  capture  it  as 
he  did  Fort  Henry.  But  although  he  carried  his  vessels 
gallantly  into  action,  and  held  them  for  a  long  time  under 
the  overwhelming  fire  of  the  batteries,  he  was  finally  com- 
pelled to  give  it  up,  and  drop,  crippled,  out  of  the  fight. 
Grant  had  arrived  two  days  before,  and  spent  the  inter- 
mediate time  in  completing  the  investment  of  the  place. 
The  fort  stood  on  a  high  bluff,  with  a  wooded,  broken 
country  in  front,  seamed  with  ravines  that  alternated  with 
rocky  heights  and  stretches  of  timber  and  underbrush, 
which  made  the  approach  to  it  difficult.  Floyd  com- 
manded, with  Pillow  and  Buckner  as  subordinates,  and 
had  a  force  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  men.  Grant,  in 
investing  the  place,  sent  McClernand's  division,  com- 
posed of  three  brigades,  to  the  south,  his  right  resting  on 
the  river  above  it.  General  Smith's  was  below,  the  army 
stretching  back  in  a  semicircle,  till  the  extremes  met 
in  the  centre.  It  was  cold  weather,  in  the  middle  of 
4 


50  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

February,  and  amid  rain,  sleet,  and  snow,  the  troops  suffer- 
ed severely.  The  rebel  officers,  when  they  saw  the  place 
completely  invested,  felt  that  something  must  be  done  at 
once,  or  they  would  be  starved  into  surrender.  A  council 
of  war  was  therefore  called,  in  which  it  was  resolved  to 
attempt  to  open  a  passage  through  our  lines,  on  the  right, 
to  Nashville.  It  was  Grant's  purpose  to  intrench  himself 
in  his  position,  and  wait  till  the  gunboats  were  repaired, 
and  then  make  a  simultaneous  attack  by  land  and  water. 
This  plan,  however,  was  frustrated  by  the  determination 
of  the  enemy. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  Grant  repaired  on  board 
the  flag-ship  of  Foote,  to  consult  upon  the  time  and  man- 
ner of  making  it,  when  the  rebels  issued  from  their 
trenches,  and,  without  a  note  of  warning,  fell  like  a  thun- 
derbolt on  McClernand.  Buckner,  in  the  meantime,  to 
keep  the  latter  from  being  reinforced,  was  ordered  to  move 
out  on  the  Wynn's  Ferry  road,  upon  our  centre.  Pillow 
eommanded  the  attacking  force  on  our  right,  variously 
estimated  at  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  men.  Heralded 
by  three  commanding  batteries,  attended  by  a  regiment 
of  cavalry,  they  struck  McClernand's  right  with  a  force 
that  threatened  to  sweep  it  from  the  field.  But  the  brave 
Illinoians  stood  manfully  up  to  their  work,  and  the 
battle  had  hardly  commenced,  before  it  was  at  its  height 
The  country  was  wooded,  and  covered  with  underbrush, 
and  broken  into  hollows  and  ridges,  rendering  a  survey 
of  the  field  impossible.  Our  lines  extended  for  two  miles 
around  the  fort,  and  this  sudden  uproar  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, on  our  extreme  right,  along  the  banks  of  the  Cum- 
berland, called  each  division  into  line  of  battle.  Lew. 
Wallace  was  posted  next  to  McClernand,  on  the  top 
of  a  high  ridge,  with  forests  sweeping  off  to  the  front 


ATTACK   ON    McCLERNAND.  51 

and  rear.  When  the  deep  and  mingled  roar  of  artillery 
and  musketry  broke  over  the  woods,  he  thought  McCler- 
nand  had  moved  on  the  enemy's  works.  But  that  brave 
chieftain  was  making,  instead,  desperate  efforts  to  hold  his 
own  against  the  overwhelming  numbers  that,  momentarily 
increasing,  pressed  his  lines,  with  a  fierceness  that  threat- 
ened his  complete  overthrow.  Finding,  at  length,  that 
his  troops  were  giving  way,  he,  at  eight  o'clock,  sent  off 
a  staff-officer  at  full  speed  to  Wallace,  for  help.  The 
latter  had  received  orders  from  Grant  to  hold  the  position 
he  occupied,  in  order  to  keep  the  enemy  from  escaping  in 
that  direction,  and  dared  not  move ;  and  so  hurried  off  the 
courier  with  his  despatch  to  headquarters.  But  Grant 
not  being  there,  the  latter  kept  on  to  the  gunboats,  in 
search  of  him.  McClernand,  wondering  that  no  help 
came,  and  seeing  his  lines  swinging  back,  despite  the  heroic 
efforts  of  the  commanders,  hastened,  off  another  messen- 
ger to  Wallace,  saying  that  his  flank  was  turned,  and  his 
whole  division  was  wavering.  Wallace  could  wait  no 
longer  to  hear  from  Grant,  and  immediately  despatched 
Colonel  Croft,  commanding  a  brigade,  to  his  help.  Losing 
his  way,  the  latter  marched  clear  round,  almost  to  the 
river,  when  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing force.  Though  he  bravely  met  the  assault,  confusion 
followed,  through  ignorance  of  each  other's  whereabouts 
and  purposes.  After  a  short  and  sanguinary  struggle,  the 
enemy  suddenly  left  him  and  bore  heavily  down  on 
McClernand  again.  Wallace  all  this  time  sat  on  his 
horse,  listening  to  the  steady  crash  to  the  right  that  made 
the  wintry  woods  resound,  when  there  burst  into  view  a 
crowd  of  fugitives,  rushing  up  the  hill  on  which  he  stood. 
The  next  moment  an  officer  dashed  on  a  headlong  gallop 
up  the  road,  shouting,  "  We  are  cut  to  pieces."  Seeing 


52  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

his  whole  line  of  the  third  brigade  beginning  to  shake 
before  this  sudden  irruption,  he  ordered  its  commander  to 
move  on  by  the  right  flank,  he  himself  riding  at  its  head 
to  keep  it  steady.  He  had  not  gone  far  before  he  met 
portions  of  regiments  in  full  retreat,  yet  without  panic  or 
confusion,  calling  aloud  for  ammunition.  To  his  inquiry, 
how  the  battle  was  going,  Colonel  Wallace  told  him,  coolly, 
as  though  it  were  the  most  ordinary  circumstance,  that 
the  enemy  was  close  behind,  and  would  soon  attack  him. 
He  immediately  formed  his  line  of  battle,  and  sent  off  to 
the  left  for  help.  The  retiring  regiments  kept  on  to  the 
rear,  a  short  distance,  and  refilled  their  cartridge-boxes. 
Scarcely  was  this  new  line  of  battle  formed,  when  the 
rebels,  following  up  their  advantage  on  the  right,  swooped 
down,  confident  of  victory,  full  Upon  him.  The  shock 
was  firmly  met,  and  the  enemy  brought  to  a  pause.  Hours 
had  passed  in  the  meantime,  and  McClernand  was  dis- 
puting every  inch  of  ground  he  was  compelled  to  yield. 
Desperate  fighting  over  batteries ;  repulses  and  advances  of 
regiments  and  brigades';  shouts  and  yells  heard  amid  the 
intervals  of  the  uproar,  sweeping  like  a  thunder-storm 
through  the  leafless  woods,  out  of  which  burst  clouds  of 
smoke,  as  though  a  conflagration  was  raging  below  ;  hur- 
rying crowds  in  all  the  openings, — combined  to  make  up 
the  terrific  scene  that  was  displayed  that  wintry  morning 
on  the  banks  of  the  Cumberland.  About  three  o'clock, 
Grant  rode  on  the  field,  to  find  his  right  thown  far  back, 
ammunition  exhausted,  and  the  ranks  in  confusion.  Most 
generals  in  this  crisis  would  have  retired  their  troops, 
formed  a  new  line,  and  waited  till  the  attack  could  be  re- 
newed with  the  assistance  of  the  gunboats.  But  the 
enemy  not  following  up  his  advantage  at  this  critical  mo- 
ment, showed  to  his  quick  eye  that  his  strength  was  ex- 


ASSAULT   OF   WALLACE.  53 

hau steel,  the  force  of  his  blow  spent ;  and  he  immediately 
ordered  General  Smith,  on  the  extreme  left,  down  the 
river — who  had  been  comparatively  idle  during  the  day — 
to  move  at  once  upon  the  enemy's  works  in  his  front.  It 
was  a  bold  undertaking,  but  one  of  those  sudden  inspira- 
tions which,  taken  in  the  heat  of  battle,  often  decides  its 
fate.  Napoleon  once  said,  "  A  battle  often  turns  on  a 
single  thought."  It  was  true  in  this  case.  In  order  to  dis- 
tract the  enemy  j  while  Smith  was  moving  to  this  desperate 
task,  he  directed  McClernand — exhausted  and  shattered 
as  he  was — to  recover  his  lost  ground,  piled  with  his  own 
dead,  and  assault  the  rebel  works,  from  before  which  he 
had  been  driven.  Wallace  commanded  the  assaulting 
columns,  composed  of  the  two  brigades  of  Colonels 
Smith  and  Croft.  As  the  brave  regiments  moved  past 
him,  he  coldly  told  them  that  desperate  work  was  before 
them.  Instead  of  being  discouraged  by  this,  they  sent  up 
loud  cheers,  and  "  Forward,  forward,11  ran  along  the  ranks. 
"  Forward,  then !  "  he  shouted,  in  turn.  Through  dense 
underbrush,  over  out-cropping  ledges  of  rock,  across  open 
stony  places,  up  the  steep  acclivity,  swept  by  desolating  vol- 
leys, they  boldly  charged,  or  climbed  like  mountain-goats. 
Now  lying  down  to  escape  the  murderous  volleys,\  then 
rising  with  a  cheer,  they  pushed  on  till  they  got  within  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  intrenchments,  when  the 
order  came  to  fall  back.  It  was  now  dark,  and,  disobey- 
ing the  order,  Wallace  kept  the  hard- won  position.  He 
did  not  know  at  the  time  the  brilliant  success  won  on  the 
left  by  Smith.  Newspaper  correspondents  had  denounced 
the  latter  as  a  Southern  sympathizer,  and  he  was  about 
to  show  them  an  example  of  the  workings  of  that  sym- 
pathy. The  intrenched  hill  in  front  of  him  commanded 
the  interior  works  of  the  enemy,  and  on  its  bristling  top  he 


54  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

was  determined  to  plant  his  flag.  Sending  a  force  around 
to  the  right,  to  make  a  feint,  he  took  three  picked  regi" 
merits — the  Second  and  Seventh  Iowa,  and  Fifty-seventh 
Indiana — to  compose  the  storming  column,  and,  liding  at 
their  head,  ordered  the  advance.  As  his  eye  glanced 
along  that  splendid  body  of  men,  he  felt  they  were  equal 
to  the  bloody  task  assigned  them.  The  bayonet  was  to 
do  the  work  this  time.  It  was  to  be  swift  success,  or  utter 
destruction.  Mounting  the  slope  with  leaning  forms, 
those  brave  troops  entered  the  desolating  fire,  that  rolled 
like  a  lava-flood  adown  the  height,  and  pressed  rapidly 
upward  and  onward.  Their  gallant  leader  moved  beside 
them,  with  his  cap  lifted  on  his  sword,  as  a  banner  to  wave 
them  on.  Grim  and  silent,  with  compressed  lips  and  flash- 
ing eyes,  they  breasted  the  steep  acclivity  and  the  blind- 
ing, fiery  sleet,  without  faltering  for  one  instant.  They 
sternly  closed  the  rent  ranks  as  they  ascended,  until  at 
last  the  summit  was  gained.  Then  the  long  line  of  gleam- 
ing barrels  came  to  a  level  together  ;  a  simultaneous  flash, 
a  crashing  volley,  a  cheer,  ringing  high  and  clear  from 
the  smoking  top,  a  single  bound,  and  they  were  over  and 
in  the  rebel  works.  The  flag  went  up,  and  with  it  a  shout 
of  victory  that  was  the  death-knell  of  Fort  Donelson. 
Hurrying  up  his  artillery  and  supports,  Smith  fixed  him- 
self firmly  in  position,  and  awaited  the  morning  light  to 
complete  the  work  already  more  than  half  done. 

That  night  the  rebel  Generals  held  a  council  of  war, 
which  ended  in  Floyd's  turning  over  the  command  of  the 
fort  to  Pillow,  and  he  again  transferring  it  to  Buckner. 
This  being  done,  the  two  former,  with  a  portion  of  the 
Virginia  brigade,  stole  secretly  on  board  some  steamers, 
and  escaped  to  Nashville. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  roll  of  the  drum  and  the  bugle- 


THE    SURRENDER.  55 

note  awakened  the  Federal  army,  a  white  flag  was  seen 
waving  from  Fort  Donelson.  Soon  an  officer  appeared, 
bearing  proposals  from  Buckner  for  an  armistice  of  twelve 
hours,  and  that  commissioners  might  be  appointed  to 
arrange  terms  of  capitulation.  Grant  replied  that  no 
terms  were  to  be  entertained ;  he  demanded  unconditional 
surrender,  and  that  immediately,  or  he  should  move  at 
once  on  his  works.  Buckner  replied,  that,  ungenerous 
and  unchivalric  as  this  was,  he  must  submit  to  it ;  and  the 
Fort  was  surrendered,  with  its  garrison  of  thirteen  thou- 
sand men,  some  sixty  cannon,  commissary  stores,  &c. 
The  number  of  the  captured  was  swelled  by  two  regi- 
ments of  Tennesseans  who  next  day  entered  the  Fort, 
ignorant  of  its  fall. 

This  was  the  first  great  victory  of  the  war,  and  electri- 
fied the  nation  more  than  any  after  success.  On  the 
other*  hand,  it  was  received  by  the  South  with  the  deepest 
mortification  and  rage.  The  Fort  surrendered  on  Sab- 
bath morning,  and  the  people  of  Nashville  were  crowding 
to  church,  elate  with  confidence,  caused  by  a  despatch 
received  the  night  before,  from  Pillow,  stating  that  our 
army  was  beaten.  "When  the  stunning  news  ran  through 
the  streets  of  the  city  that  the  Fort  had  fallen,  the  gentle 
clamor  of  bells  calling  to  prayer  was  changed  to  the  loud 
clang  of  alarm,  and  soon  every  vehicle  was  engaged  to 
carry  away  the  alarmed  inhabitants  that  surged  in  sway- 
iiig  crowds  through  the  streets. 

The  rebel  loss  in  the  engagement  was  only  some  twelve 
hundred,  while  ours  was  about  double — we  being  com- 
pelled to  assail  the  enemy  behind  his  breastworks.  Grant 
at  once  became  the  idol  of  the  West,  and  the  Illinois  troops 
won  a  reputation  that  they  maintained  untarnished  to  the 
close  of  the  war. 


56  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

Still,  adverse  fortune  seemed  to  follow  Grant.  With 
the  tidings  of  victory,  there  went  to  Washington  an  in- 
famous charge  against  him,  and  an  order  was  telegraphed 
back,  ordering  him  under  arrest.  Thus,  just  as  the  nation 
was  ready  to  make  him  its  idol,  his  career  seemed  about 
to  close.  But  fortunately  the  charge  was  pronounced  a 
slander,  and  Lincoln  would  not  listen  to  the  pressing  de- 
mands on  every  side  for  his  removal,  but  stood  as  ever 
his  firm  friend. 

Grant's  district  was  now  enlarged,  and  called  that  of 
West  Tennessee,  the  Tennessee  river  forming  its  southern 
boundary.  He  was  also  made  Major-General  of  Volun- 
teers. 

His  first  great  campaign  being  ended,  he,  as  spring 
opened,  prepared  for  another,  under  the  direction  of  Hal- 
leek.  Having  changed  his  headquarters  to  Fort  Henry, 
he  was  directed  to  ascend  the  Tennessee  to  Pittsburg 
Landing,  while  Buell  advanced  across  the  country  from 
Nashville  to  the  same  point.  When  the  junction  should 
be  formed,  the  combined  army  was  to  move  on  Corinth, 
where  the  rebel  army  under  Johnston  and  Beauregard 
lay  strongly  intrenched.  Situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
Memphis  and  Charleston  and  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroads, 
it  was  a  place  of  great  importance. 

Grant's  army  was  landed  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  thrown  out  several  miles  in  the  direction 
of  Corinth,  and  encamped  to  wait  for  Buell,  who  was 
pushing  his  way  across  the  country.  Beauregard,  aware 
of  the  Federal  plan,  resolved  to  fall  on  Grant  before 
Buell  reached  him,  and  drive  him  into  the  Tennessee. 
In  accordance  with  this  plan,  Johnston  set  out  from 
Corinth,  twenty  miles  distant,  on  the  4th  of  April,  intend- 
ing to  attack  Grant  on  Saturday,  next  day ;  but  pouring 


BATTLE    OF   SHILOH.  57 

rains  had  made  the  roads  so  heavy  that  he  was  unable  to 
do  so  until  Sunday  morning. 

The  three  divisions  of  Sherman,  Prentiss,  and  McCler- 
nand, were  the  farthest  advanced  on  the  roads  toward 
Corinth,  where  they  had  lain  in  camp  for  nearly  three 
weeks ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  no  breastworks  were  thrown 
up,  or  lines  of  abattis  made,  behind  which  the  troops, 
many  of  whom  were  entirely  raw,  especially  the  division 
of  Sherman,  could  make  a  stand.  So  when,  at  day-dawn 
on  Sunday  morning,  the  rebel  batteries  opened,  and  their 
heavy  lines  came  down  on  our  camps,  they  swept  them 
like  an  inundation.  Some  of  the  soldiers  were  preparing 
their  breakfast,  when  the  pickets  came  dashing  in,  crying 
that  the  rebels  were  upon  them.  A  scene  of  indescribable 
confusion  followed.  From  the  very  outset,  the  battle  on 
our  part  was  without  plan  or  cohesion,  while  the  rebel 
General  held  his  army  completely  in  hand,  and  hurled  it 
with  skill,  boldness,  and  irresistible  power,  on  any  point 
he  wished  to  strike.  Prentiss  in  the  centre,  after  striving 
in  vain  to  bear  up  against  the  flood,  was  surrounded  and 
compelled  to  surrender,  with  some  three  thousand  01 
more  of  his  troops.  Sherman  and  McClernand  fought 
with  their  accustomed  bravery,  but  they  could  hold  only 
a  portion  of  their  troops  to  the  deadly  work.  Stuart  was 
cut  off  from  the  main  army,  and  compelled  to  fight  his 
own  battle.  Cavalry  charged  hither  and  thither  over  the 
tumultuous  field,  riding  down  our  disordered  troops ;  our 
batteries  were  swept  by  the  hostile  flood,  and  the  broken, 
disjointed  army  borne  steadily  back  toward  the  Tennessee. 
Sherman,  awake  to  the  peril  of  the  army,  clung  to  each 
position  with  the  tenacity  of  death,  and  rode  amid  the 
hail-storm  of  bullets  as  though  he  had  forgotten  he  had  a 
life  to  lose,  McClernand  closed  sternly  in  with  him,  and 


58  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT, 

-a  portion  of  their  devoted  troops  breasted  nobly  the  deso- 
lating fire  that  swept  the  field ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain  to 
attempt  to  stem  the  refluent  tide  of  battle.  Hurlbut,  too, 
moved  bravely  into  the  chaos,  and  gave  Sherman  breath- 
ing time.  Grant,  who  was"  at  Savannah,  several  miles 
down  the  river,  did  not  reach  the  battle-field  till  ten 
o'clock.  When  he  did  arrive,  his  presence  failed  to  arrest 
the  disaster.  The  bleeding,  shattered,  but  still  bravely 
fighting  army,  swung  heavily  back  toward  the  Tennes- 
see river,  which,  when  once  reached,  would  be  its  tomb. 
As  the  sun  of  that  spring  Sabbath  stooped  to  the  western 
horizon,  he  looked  on  a  field  trampled,  torn,  and  crimson- 
ed, and  apparently  lost  to  the  Union  cause.  The  rebel 
leader  had  fallen,  and  Beauregard  had  assumed  com- 
mand, and  promised  that  his  steed  should  ere  night  drink 
of  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee.  But  as  darkness  fell  over 
the  field,  he  ceased  his  persistent  attacks,  and  lay  down 
to  wait  for  the  morning  to  complete  the  work  apparently 
almost  done.  Of  Grant's  army  of  over  forty  thousand 
men,  four  thousand  were  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  six  thousand  were  killed  or  wounded,  while  nearly 
a  third  of  the  entire  host  that  had  moved  to  battle  in  the 
morning,  were  skulking  under  the  banks  or  scattered  in 
disorder  where  they  could  not  be  brought*  into  action. 
Half  of  the  artillery  was  captured,  and  the  scarce  twenty 
thousand  men  that  still  kept  their  ranks,  stood  within 
sight  of  the  rushing  waters  of  the  Tennessee.  It  was  a 
sad,  lost  field ;  but  fortunately  Buell  was  near.  The  heads 
of  his  eager  columns,  that  had  pushed  on  all  day,  urged 
by  the  heavy,  incessant  explosions  that  rolled  over  the 
forests  in  front,  telling  them  that  their  comrades  were  in 
peril,  appeared  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  "  Buell 
has  come,"  rung  in  thrilling  shouts  over  the  field.  Grant 


NIGHT   AFTER   THE   BATTLE.  59 

had  already  seen  him,  and  now  felt  that  the  lost  day 
might  be  retrieved ;  and  riding  up  to  the  bleeding,  lion- 
hearted  Sherman,  told  him  to  be  ready  in  the  morning  to 
assume  the  offensive. 

That  was  a  sad  night  to  the  army.  The  dead  and 
wounded  lay  everywhere,  the  latter  moaning  for  water, 
or  gasping  out  their  lives  on  the  torn  and  trampled  field, 
while  ever  and  anon  a  heavy  explosion  from  the  gunboats 
Tyler  and  Lexington,  that  at  the  close  of  the  day  had 
helped  with  their  ponderous  shells  to  keep  back  the  right 
wing  of  the  rebel  army,  that  was  bearing  our  shattered 
left  to  swift  destruction,  broke  through  the  gloom.  At 
midnight  a  heavy  thunder-storm  burst  along  the  river, 
adding  deeper  solemnity  to  the  scene,  and  drenching  with 
grateful  rain-drops  the  feverish,  thirsty  thousands,  to  whom 
no  other  help  than  this  gift  of  Heaven  came,  that  long, 
dreary  night.  Thanks  to  Buell,  light  rose  above  its 
darkness  to  Grant.  But  for  him,  his  rising  fame  would 
have  there  closed  with  that  of  other  equally  brave  gen- 
erals, whom  disaster  had  laid  aside  for  the  war. 

In  the  morning,  Buell  formed  his  line  of  battle  near 
the  shore,  and  Sherman  gathered  up  his  shattered  ranks 
ready  to  strike  once  more  the  ponderous  blows  he  knew 
so  well  how  to  give.  McCook,  and  Nelson,  and  Crittenden 
were  there  with  their  brave  divisions,  whose  serried  front 
and  long,  swinging  tread  and  steady  movements,  gave 
assurance  of  victory.  Sherman,  whose  brave  heart  had 
been  sore  vexed  at  the  unwieldiness  of  his  green  troops, 
looked  at  them  with  pride.  The  latter,  he  said,  "  knew 
not  the  value  of  combination  and  organization.  When 
individual  fear  seized  them^  the  first  impulse  was  to  get 
away." 

In  the  morning,  he    "  stood   patiently  awaiting   the 


60  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

sound  of  Buell's  advance  upon  the  main  Corinth  road* 
At  length  his  thunder  spoke,  and  as  the  deep  reverbera- 
tions steadily  approached,  he  gave  the  word  "  Forward.11 
The  drums  rolled  out,  and  soon  he  came,  when  he  said, 
"  I  saw  for  the  first  time  the  well-ordered  and  compact 
Kentucky  forces  of  General  Buell,  whose  soldierly  move- 
ment at  once  gave  confidence  to  our  newer  and  less  disci- 
plined forces."  His  quick  military  eye  saw  at  a  glance 
that  different  soldiers  were  in  the  field,  and  that  not  mere 
"  pluck,"  but  discipline,  was  to  settle  the  fortunes  of  the 
day.  Buell's  line  of  battle,  with  scarcely  a  check,  steadily 
swept  the  field,  bearing  the  enemy  back  over  our  camps, 
carried  with  such  resistless  fury  the  day  before,  and  re- 
covering our  lost  artillery.  Sherman  also  forced  his  shat- 
tered batallions  forward,  and  the  bloody  field  of  Shiloh  was 
won.  But,  about  a  third  of  Grant's  army  had  disappear, 
ed.  Many  stragglers,  however,  afterward  came  in.  Sher- 
man lost  two  thousand  out  of  his  single  division ;  McCler- 
nand  about  a  third  of  his;  Hurlbut  two  thousand,  and 
McArthur  half  as  many.  Had  the  battle  been  lost,  the 
rebels  would  have  swept  the  country  up  to  the  Ohio, 
Even  the  victory  could  not  shield  Grant  from  general 
condemnation,  and  a  great  effort  was  made  to  induce  the 
President  to  remove  him  from  command.  Several  of  the 
Governors  of  the  Western  States  waited  on  Halleck,  and 
urged  his  removal,  declaring  that  he  was  not  only  incapa- 
ble, but  too  intemperate  to  be  trusted  with  an  army 
The  more  moderate  satisfied  themselves  with  the  complaint 
that  he  had  committed  a  gross  blunder  in  placing  his  army 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  without  furnishing  any  means 
for  its  retreat  in  case  of  disaster.  There  was  no  reason  for 
exposing  it  to  an  attack  until  BuelTs  army  should  arrive, 
because  no  battle  was  desired  until  the  forces  could  form 


SHERMAN'S  LETTER.  61 

a  junction.  There  has  been  no  satisfactory  explanation 
given  for  this  disposition  of  the  army,  and  doubtless  for 
the  simple  reason  that  none  can  be  given.  His  retention 
in  command  was  doubtless  owing  .more  to  the  zealous 
advocacy  of  Mr.  Washburne,  member  of  Congress  from 
Illinois,  than  from  any  other  cause.  The  fault  of  the 
surprise  rested,  of  course,  as  he  insisted,  on  the  division 
commanders  in  front,  instead  of  him,  as  well  as  the  neg- 
lect to  throw  up  field-works  for  self-protection.  Sher- 
man has  lately  endeavored,  in  a  long  letter,  to  defend 
Grant  from  the  public  charges  made  against  him ;  and 
although  the  effort  does  credit  to  his  heart,  it  cannot 
stand  scrutiny  for  a  moment.  He  says  the  fault  of  land- 
ing the  army,  if  it  was  one,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
must  be  laid  to  General  Smith,  who  placed  it  there.  This 
would  do,  if  a  battle  had  followed  immediately  on  the 
landing  of  the  army ;  but  he  knows,  as  well  as  any  one, 
that  in  allowing  it  to  stay  there  three  weeks.  Grant 
assumed  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  act.  In  fact,  it 
became  his.  It  seems  to  have  dawned  on  his  mind,  that 
others  might  see  it  in  this  light,  and  so  he  endeavors  to 
defend  the  act  itself.  If  he  had  simply  asserted  it,  we 
might  have  deferred  to  his  superior  military  judgment, 
and  acquiesced,  though  we  failed  to  see  the  grounds  on 
which  it  was  based.  But  when  he  goes  on  to  give  the 
reasons  for  his  views,  we  have  the  right  to  test  them  by 
common  sense.  In  the  first  place,  he  says  that  the  battle 
was  not  lost  on  the  first  day,  for  he  received  orders  to 
assume  the  offensive  the  next  morning,  before  he  knew 
that  Buell  had  arrived.  But  Grant  knew  he  was  at 
hand,  so  that  the  statement  amounts  to  nothing.  The 
intention  seems  to  be  to  imply  that  Grant,  without  refer- 
ence to  Buell's  arrival,  had  determined  to  assume  the 


62  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

offensive;  but  this  was  impossible,  for  Buell  had  seen 
Grant  in  the  afternoon,  and  told  him  of  the  near  approach 
of  his  forces.  There  seems  a  lack  here  of  Sherman's  usual 
straight-forward,  open  way  of  stating  things.  He  says, 
"  I  repeat,  I  received  such  orders  before  I  knew  Gen- 
eral Buell's  troops  were  at  the  river."  But  his  knowl- 
edge had  nothing  to  do  with  the  orders  ;  the  whole  ques- 
tion turns  on  whether  Grant  gave  the  order  before  he 
knew  of  Buell's  arrival.  This  he  neglects  to  state.  But 
even  if  it  were  so,  we  do  not  see  how  it  helps  the  matter 
much;  it  shows  pluck,  but  we  cannot  admit  that  it 
promised  success.  With  half  of  his  army  gone,  or 
broken  into  irrecoverable  fragments — half  his  artillery 
captured — with  an  army  more  than  double  that  of  his  own, 
flushed  with  victory,  hanging  along  his  front,  "  to  drop  the 
defensive  "  which  all  day  long  had  not  been  maintained  at 
any  given  point  for  only  a  short  interval,  and  now  weak- 
ened in  men,  guns,  and  morale,  "  to  assume  the  offensive" 
would  doubtless  have  been  very  "  plucky,"  but  we  fear 
that  the  impartial  student  of  the  battle-field  will  conclude 
that  would  have  been  the  sum-total  of  the  attempt.  Again, 
he  says,  "there  was  no  mistake"  "in  putting  that  army 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Tennessee ;"  and  proceeds  to  give 
the  following  reason  for  his  opinion,  which  will  strike  one 
as  more  surprising,  if  possible,  than  the  act  itself.  He 
says :  "It  was  necessary  that  a  combat,  fierce  and  bitter, 
to  test  the  manhood  of  the  two  armies,  should  come  off, 
and  that  was  as  good  a  place  as  any.  It  was  not,  then,  a 
question  of  military  skill  and  strategy,  but  of  courage 
and  pluck,"  etc.  If  this  means  anything,  it  asserts  tha 
Grant's  army  was  placed  where  it  was  overwhelmed  the 
first  day,  solely  to  fight  a  square,  stand-up  battle,  "  to 
test  the  comparative  pluck  and  endurance  of  the  rebel  and 


NO    STRATEGY.  63 

Union  soldiers.  There  was  no  strategy  in  the  case."  One 
may  well  ask  in  amazement,  then,  what  Buell  was  sent 
across  the  country  from  Nashville  for,  to  form  a  junction 
with  them  ?  Besides,  if  there  was  no  "  strategy  "  in  the 
case,  both  Halleck  and  Buell  have  grievously  misled  the 
public,  for  they  assert  that  a  plan  of  campaign  had  been 
laid  out,  the  main  features  of  which  were  that  the  two 
armies  should  form  a  junction  before  active  operations 
commenced ;  Halleck  was  then  to  assume  command,  and 
Corinth  was  to  be  the  first  objective  point  of  the  grand 
"  Army  of  Invasion."  Their  statements  do  not  tally  well 
with  the  assertion  that  all  that  was  wanted  was  a  pugi- 
listic fight  between  two  armies — a  simple  gladiatorial 
contest.  But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  it :  the  assertion 
proves  too  much,  or  rather,  proves  what  is  not  true ;  for 
it  was  'not  a  fair  test  of  the  soldierly  qualities  of  the  two 
armies  ;  it  was  not  a  fair  pitched  battle.  One  army 
was  taken  unawares  and  thrown  into  confusion  before 
the  battle  had  fairly  commenced ;  and  hence  a  struggle 
under  such  adverse  circumstances,  could  in  no  way  be 
considered  a  fair  "test  of  the  manhood"  of  at  least  our 
army.  In  the  second  place,  Sherman,  in  his  despatch, 
says :  "  My  division  was  made  up  of  regiments  perfectly 
new,  all  having  received  their  muskets,  for  the  first  time, 
at  Paducah.  None  of  them  had  ever  been  under  fire,  or 
beheld  heavy  columns  of  the  enemy  bearing  down  on 
them.  To  expect  of  them  the  coolness  and  steadiness  of 
older  troops  would  be  wrong."  But  why  would  it  be 
wrong  to  expect  this?  Simply  because  it  was  not  a 
"fair  test  of  the  manhood  "  of  such  troops  to  put  them 
against  such  disciplined  forces  as  the  rebels  proved  to  be 
— least  of  all,  when  a  battle  was  sprung  upon  them,  and 
before  they  could  avail  themselves  of  the  little  knowledge 


64  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

they  had  of  "organization  and  combination/1  In  the 
last  place,  if  the  battle  was  a  "fair  test  of  the  manhood" 
of  the  opposing  troops,  it  proved  what  no  one  believes  to 
be  true,  viz.,  the  superiority  of  the  Southern  soldier ;  for 
we  were  terribly  beaten  all  day— driven  from  point  to 
point,  till,  at  nightfall,  nearly  half  the  army  had  dis- 
appeared. We  therefore  assert  that  it  was  never  de- 
signed that  a  battle  should  be  fought  there  to  "test  the 
manhood  of  the  two  armies  " — that  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  circumstances  it  could  have  been  no  test — that  the 
result  of  that  first  day's  battle,  compared  with  our  after- 
experience,  shows  that  it  was  no  test.  We  fear  that  even 
the  sanction  of  so  great  a  name  as  Sherman's,  will  not 
save  the  bad  logic  of  his  argument.  He  says,  in  his 
letter,  that,  from  the  extraordinary  accounts  which  his- 
torians have  given  of  that  battle,  he  begins  to  doubt 
whether  he  himself  was  there  at  all ;  but  we  venture  to 
say  that,  among  all  those  accounts,  not  one  has  conveyed 
so  erroneous  an  impression  respecting  the  propriety  of 
the  plan,  the  purpose,  and  the  actual  result  of  the  first 
day's  battle,  as  that  letter  has  done,  written  ostensibly  for 
the  correction,  but  which  actually  is  a  perversion,  of 
history.  That  it  should  not  have  been  brought  on  in  the 
way  and  time  it  was,  will  be  the  verdict  of  history,  in 
spite  of  all  special  pleading  on  the  part  of  commanders  or 
subordinates  who  had  anything  to  do  with  it.  If  there 
is  one  maxim  in  military  science  that  is  irrefutable,  it  is, 
that  it  is  wrong  to  expose  an  army  to  be  cut  up  in  detail 
by  the  concentrated  forces  of  an  enemy.  And  this  is  just 
what  was  done  by  placing  the  army  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Tennessee,  within  twenty  miles  of  Corinth,  while 
Buell  was  still  pushing  across  the  country  from  Nash- 
ville, subject  to  all  the  delays  that  might  arise  from  the 


HALLECK   ASSUMES    COMMAND.  65 

weather  or  the  enemy.  Up  to  this  point,  Grant  had  not 
made  a  movement,  or  fought  a  battle,  that  had  not 
brought  down  on  his  head  more  or  less  abuse  or  criti- 
cism. But  here,  adverse  fate  seemed  to  give  up  the 
struggle  against  him,  and  Fortune  adopted  him  as  her 
favorite  son.  The  clamors  that  had  followed  on  his  track, 
and  travelled  back  from  his  camps  to  Washington,  began 
to  die  away,  until  at  last  they  were  changed  to  peans  of 
praise,  that  deepened  with  every  revolving  month,  till 
the  land  was  filled  with  the  sound  of  his  name.  From 
that  day  his  star  has  steadily  climbed  the  heavens,  until 
it  now  stands  in  all  its  bright  effulgence  at  the  zenith, 
shedding  its  tranquil  light  on  the  grateful  nation.  He 
could  now  ask  no  greater  favor  of  his  friends  than  that  they 
should  stop  trying  to  prove  that  he  was  just  as  wise  at  the 
beginning  as  at  the  end  of  his  career.  Halleck  shortly 
after  assumed  command  in  person  of  the  forces  in  the 
field,  under  the  name  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  and  laid 
regular  siege  to  Corinth,  in  which  Grant  commanded  the 
right  wing.  The  slow  movements  of  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  were  not  in  accordance  with  his  ideas  of  the  manner 
in  which  a  campaign  should  be  conducted.  It  is  said,  on 
good  authority,  that  Grant  lost  his  temper,  for  the  first 
time,  when  urging  Halleck  to  advance  against  Corinth, 
saying  that  if  he  did  not,  the  rebel  army,  with  all  its 
material,  would  escape.  His  language  to  the  cautious 
Commander-in-Chief  was  stronger  than  his  subordinate 
position  would  justify,  and  he  expected  to  be  brought  to 
account  for  it.  Whether  such  an  intention  was  ever 
entertained  or  not,  the  final  escape  of  the  rebel  army, 
with  all  its  guns,  stores,  &c.,  effectually  quieted  all  desire 
to  provoke  an  investigation. 

In  July,  Halleck  was  made  General-in-Chief  of  all 

5 


66  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

the  forces  of  the  Union,  and  called  to  Washington,  when 
the  Department  of  West  Tennessee  was  created,  and 
Grant  placed  in  command  of  it.  He  had  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  with  the  disloyal  people  of  Memphis,  who  held 
constant  communication  with  the  rebel  forces,  and  carried 
on  quite  a  traffic  with  them.  He  therefore  issued  an 
order,  expelling  all  disloyal  families  who  had  given  aid  or 
information  to  the  South,  or  who  refused  to  sign  a  parole 
that  they  would  not  do  so  in  future.  He  also  issued  an 
order,  declaring  that  independent  guerillas  would  not, 
when  captured,  receive  the  treatment  due  to  prisoners  of 
war.  He  next  suspended  the  "  Memphis  Avalanche,"  a 
rebel  paper.  The  various  orders,  etc.,  in  regard  to  these 
matters,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

During  the  summer,  while  Buell  was  trying  to  reach 
Chattanooga,  Grant's  army  lay  comparatively  quiet,  pro- 
tecting the  railroad  south  from  Columbus,  by  which 
supplies  were  forwarded. 

In  September,  hearing  that  Van  Dorn  and  Price  had 
advanced  on  luka,  he  took  one  portion  of  his  forces,  as- 
signing Rosecrans  to  the  command  of  the  other,  and  by 
different  routes  moved  on  the  place.  Rosecrans  arrived 
at  the  appointed  time,  and  fought  and  defeated  the  whole 
rebel  force.  The  rebel  leaders,  however,  instead  of  being 
disheartened  by  this  defeat,  set  on  foot  a  still  more  for- 
midable movement — one  designed  to  cut  the  communica- 
tions north  of  Corinth,  and  stop  our  supplies.  Rosecrans, 
the  moment  he  discovered  it,  hastily  called  in  all  the 
troops  within  reach,  and  gave  battle  behind  his  intrench- 
inents.  The  rebels  assaulted  the  place  in  the  most  deter- 
mined manner,  and  came  very  near  carrying  it ;  but  were 
finally  defeated  with  terrible  slaughter. 

The  Mississippi  having  been  opened  to  Vicksburg, 


GRANT    AND    THE    TRADERS.  67 

and  Buell  removed,  Rosecrans  was  now  put  over  the 
army  of  the  Cumberland,  with  headquarters  at  Nash- 
ville, preparatory  to  moving  on  Bragg,  who  had  retired 
to  Murfreesboro  after  his  invasion  of  Tennessee.  Grant,  in 
the  meantime,  turned  his  attention  to  Vicksburg.  Re- 
organizing his  forces  during  the  autumn,  he,  in  the  mean- 
time, between  cotton  speculators,  disloyal  inhabitants 
within  his  lines,  pilfering,  etc.,  was  exceedingly  annoyed. 
Wishing  to  be  conciliatory,  and  soften  as  much  as  he 
could  the  asperities  of  war,  and  relieve  non-combatants 
of  its  oppressive  burdens,  he  granted  privileges,  and  modi- 
fied the  strict  rules  that  he  had  laid  down  as  much  as 
possible.  His  kindness,  however,  was  not  appreciated, 
and  his  leniency  abused,  so  that  he  was  now  and  then 
compelled  to  show  the  iron  hand.  The  hangers-on  of  the 
army,  whose  sole  object  was  to  make  money,  reckless  of 
the  means  used,  awakened  his  indignation.  The  tricky, 
unscrupulous  Jews  especially  aroused  his  anger,  and  he 
issued  an  order,  in  December,  expelling  every  individual 
of  them  from  his  Department,  in  twenty-four  hours  after 
the  reception  of  the  orders  by  the  post-commanders.  If 
any  returned,  they  were  to  be  seized  as  prisoners ;  and  to 
make  the  riddance  final  and  complete,  he  closed  the  order 
with  the  following  prohibition : 

"  No  passes  will  be  given  these  people  to  visit  head- 
quarters, for  the  purpose  of  making  personal  application 
for  trade-permits"  He  thus  shut  the  door  completely 
in  their  faces. 

In  December,  everything  being  ready,  he  commenced 
his  movement  against  Vicksburg.  Sherman,  at  the  head 
of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  was  to  proceed  down  the 
river  from  Memphis,  and  attempt  to  carry  the  place  by 
assault,  while  he  should  follow  on  by  rail,  and  bear- 


68  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

ing  to  the  left,  move  on  Jackson,  east  of  it,  holding 
and  engaging  the  rebel  force  there.  But  Sherman's 
large  flotilla  had  scarcely  pushed  from  shore,  when  Holly 
Springs  was  disgracefully  surrendered,  and  the  supplies 
on  -^nich  the  expedition  partly  depended,  captured.  This 
unexpected  disaster  compelled  Grant  to  halt,  and  Sher- 
man was  left  unsupported.  The  rebels,  advised  of  his 
approach,  and  Jackson  not  being  threatened  by  Grant, 
were  able  to  bring  over  by  rail,  from  the  latter  place,  all 
the  troops  necessary  to  defend  Vicksburg.  Sherman, 
ignorant  of  all  this,  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  part  of  the 
programme,  and  desperately  assaulted  the  rebel  works. 
Hurled  back,  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  attempt, 
and  reembarked  his  troops.  Grant  now  adopted  another 
plan  for  the  capture  of  the  place.  From  the  knowledge 
gained  of  the  strength  of  the  works  on  the  north  side 
through  Sherman's  failure,  he  was  convinced  that  opera- 
tions, to  be  successful,  must  be  conducted  against  it  from 
the  south  side.  Concentrating  his  forces,  therefore,  he 
in  February  established  them  at  Young's  Point,  prepara- 
tory to  a  move  down  the  river. 


CHAPTER  IIL 

VICKSBURG. 

*  * 

iff 

CANAL  ABOUND  IT — ABANDONED — LAKE  PBOVIDENCE  BOUTE — MOON-LAKB 
BOUTE — THIS  ALSO  ABANDONED — THE  STEEL'S  BAYOU  BOUTE — DESCBIP- 
TION  OF  EXPEDITION  THBOUGH  —  A  FAILUBE  —  GBANT  BESOLVES 
TO  BUN  THE  BATTEBIES  WITH  GUNBOATS  AND  TBANSPOBTS  —  THE 
NIGHT-PASSAGE  —  MABCH  OF  TBOOPS  ABOUND  VICKSBUBG  INLAND — 
NEW  CABTHAGE — HARD  TIMES — GBAND  GULF — ITS  BATTEBIES  BUN — 
POBT  GIBSON  BEACHED — STBIPS  FOB  THE  BACE  —  BATTLE  —  GBAND 
GULF  EVACUATED — BOLD  DETEBMINATION  OF  GBANT — BATTLE  AT  BAY- 
MOND — MABCH  ON  JACKSON — VICTOBY  AT — THE  ABMY  WHEELS  ABOUT 
AND  MABCHES  ON  VICKSBUBG — BATTLE  OF  CHAMPION'S  HILL — BATTLE 
AT  BIG  BLACK  BIVEB — VICKSBUBG  INVESTED — FIBST  ASSAULT — SECOND 
GBAND  ASSAULT — SEASON  OF — THE  LONG  SIEGE — THE  SUBBENDEB. 

VICKSBURG  stands  on  a  high,  narrow  tongue  of  land, 
made  by  an  immense  bend  in  the  Mississippi.  Hence,  back 
of  it,  the  upper  and  lower  portions  of  the  river  are  close 
together,  though  by  the  long  sweep  around  the  city  they 
are  several  miles  apart.  Across  this  neck  Engineer 
Williams  some  time  before  had  cut  a  canal,  hoping  to 
turn  enough  water  into  it  to  float  vessels  through,  and 
thus  avoid  the  necessity  of  attacking  the  place  at  all. 
This  had,  however,  been  abandoned,  and  Grant  now 
endeavored  to  re-open  and  enlarge  it.  But  the  giving 
way  of  one  of  the  dams,  the  overflow  of  the  land,  and 
the  obstinate  adherence  of  the  Mississippi  to  its  old 
channel,  caused  the  enterprise  to  be  abandoned.  Grant 


70*  LIEUTENANT-GENEEAL    GRANT. 

now  attempted  to  get  in  the  rear  of  the  place  by  inlar.d 
navigation  of  another  kind.  About  seventy  miles  above 
Vicksburg,  and  only  five  or  six  miles  from  the  river  on 
the  west  side,  lies  Lake  Providence,  a  large  sheet  of  water. 
Below  it,  arid  connected  with  it  by  a  bayou,  lies  Swan 
Lake.  This  bayou  runs  through  a  forest,  and  is  filled 
with  snags.  Swan  Lake  is. some  thirty  miles  long,  and 
instead  of  finding  an  outlet  for  its  waters  directly  across 
the  country  into  the  Mississippi,  flows  directly  south  in  a 
stream  called  Tensas  River,  which,  running  inland, 
passes  Vicksburg,  and  finally  joins  the  Black  Biver, 
and  through  it  reaches  the  Bed  Biver,  and  thus  at 
length  the  Mississippi  below  Natchez,  and  hence  below 
Vicksburg.  To  attempt  to  get  boats  through  this  long, 
crooked  inland  route,  was  a  stupendous  undertaking; 
yet  it  was  riot  deemed  impossible  that  the  Mississippi 
itself  might  be  made  to  pour  its  mighty  flood  through 
it,  and  thus  leave  Vicksburg  an  inland  .town,  with 
its  formidable  batteries  commanding  only  the  muddy 
bed  of  the  stream.  A  canal,  therefore,  into  Lake 
Providence  was  cut,  and  a  few  barges  floated  successfully 
through  it.  But  the  river  kept  on  its  old  course,  and 
with  the  subsidence  of  the  spring  freshets,  the  new 
channel,  which  had  promised  so  much,  became  a  shallow 
water-course.  Time  and  labor  had  been  thrown  away,  and 
Grant  was  compelled  to  resort  to  some  other  method  of 
getting  in  rear  of  Vicksburg.  He  now  tried  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  Nearly  two  hundred  miles  by  the 
river,  above  Vicksburg,  there  is  a  lake  on  the  east  side, 
and,  like  Lake  Providence  on  the  west  side,  lies  near  the 
bank.  This  is  called  Moon  Lake,  the  waters  of  which, 
bearing  different  names  as  they  flow  south,  at  length 
empty  into  the  Yazoo.  If  this  latter  stream  could  be  once 


LAST   INLAND   ATTEMPT.  71 

reached,  it  would  be  open  sailing  to  the  rear  of  Haines' 
Bluff,  which  thus  being  turned,  the  rear  of  Vicksburg 
could  be  reached.  A  canal  was,  therefore,  cut  from  the 
Mississippi  into  Moon  Lake.  The  water  at  once  poured 
through  it  of  a  sufficient  depth  to  admit  the  steamboats, 
and  the  perilous  undertaking  was  successfully  com- 
menced. Now  winding  slowly  along  the  narrow  and 
crooked  channel — now  backing  water  to  keep  the  boats 
from  plunging  into  the  bank,  and  now  creeping  under- 
neath overhanging  trees,  and  through  dark  swamps,  where 
solitude  reigned  supreme,  the  expedition  kept  on  its  toil- 
some way,  until  the  Yazoo  was  at  length  reached.  But 
just  at  the  moment  when  success  seemed  sure,  and  only 
a  swift  sail  remained  down  the  Yazoo,  they  came  upon 
a  fort  erected  in  a  commanding  position,  and  so  sur- 
rounded by  bogs  that  a  land-force  could  not  approach  it. 
Against  the  heavy  guns  mounted  here  the  frail  wooden 
boats  could  present  no  defence,  and  hence,  after  a  short 
action,  retired ;  and  so  nothing  was  left  but  to  creep  dis- 
appointed and  weary  back,  the  long,  tedious  route  to  the 
Mississippi. 

What  now  can  be  done?  was  the  next  inquiry.  Grant 
had  no  more  idea  of  abandoning  the  expedition  than 
when  he  first  set  out.  A  fourth  plan  was,  therefore, 
adopted.  Behind  Haines1  Bluff  he  must  get,  any  way. 
The  batteries  here  commanded  the  Yazoo  River,  and  the 
fleet  had  tried  in  vain  to  silence  them  Another  circuit- 
ous water-route  remained,  which  led  into  the  Yazoo, 
above  this  bluff,  and  yet  below  where  Fort  Pemberton, 
which  had  stopped  the  boats  of  the  last  expedition,  stood. 
By  a  reference  to  the  map,  this  will  be  seen  to  be  a  most 
extraordinary  route.  The  expedition  was  to  move  inland, 
first  north,  and  then  south,  making  an  immense  oval. 


72  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

Leaving  the  Yazoo  below  Haines'  Bluff,  it  entered  Steel's 
bayou,  designing  to  keep  north  to  the  Rolling  Fork, 
and  through  it  turn  back,  and  striking  the  Sunflower 
River,  come  down  into  the  Yazoo  just  above  Hames* 
Bluff,  and  not  many  miles  from  where  it  originally 
set  out.  Such  labyrinthian  navigation,  we  venture  to 
say,  was  never  before  attempted  by  war- vessels.  Pass- 
ing for  thirty  miles  up  Steel's  bayou,  the  boats  came  to 
Black  bayou,  in  which  trees  had  to  be  cut  down  and 
torn  out,  and  the  vessels  "  hove  around"  the  bends, 
which  were  too  short  to  be  turned  by  the  rudder.  Now 
butting  the  Iron-clads  against  trees,  and  toppling  them 
over,  and  now  tearing  them  up  by  the  roots,  the  fifteen 
vessels  in  all  worked  their  difficult  way  on.  Although  the 
bayou  was  only  four  miles  long,  it  took  twenty-four 
hours  to  get  through  it,  thus  averaging  about  five  rods 
an  hour.  They  then  entered  Deer  Creek,  where  Sherman 
arrived  with  a  small  portion  of  his  command,  to  cooperate 
with  the  boats.  Up  this  stream  to  Rolling  Fork  was  thirty- 
two  miles  by  water,  while  by  the  land-route,  that  Sher- 
man was  to  take,  it  was  but  twelve  miles. 

Up  this  narrow  channel,  filled  with  small  willows, 
through  which  the  boats  with  difficulty  forced  their  way, 
Porter  kept  slowly  on,  filling  the  inhabitants  with  almost 
as  much  astonishment  as  though  he  were  sailing  across 
the  solid  land.  The  movement  was  a  complete  surprise, 
and  Porter,  hoping  to  outspeed  the  announcement  of  his 
coming,  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible ;  but  with  his 
utmost  efforts  he  could  make  barely  half  a  mile  an  hour. 
At  length  he  got  within  seven  miles  of  the  Rolling  Fork, 
from  which  point  it  would  be  plain  sailing.  But  his  pro- 
gress had  been  so  slow  that  the  rebels  had  penetrated  his 
plans,  and  now  began  to  line  the  banks  with  gangs  of 


"  The  shaded  Bayou  shows 
the  actual  route  travelled 
the  Gunboats.      The    dotted 
line    shows    the    remaining       ' 
proposed  route. 


THE  L£ST  INLAND  KOUTE  OF  GEN.  GKANT  TO  KEACH  THE  EEAR  OF  VICKSBUEG. 


RUNNING    THE    BATTERIES.  73 

negroes,  felling  trees  across  the  narrow  stream,  to  obstruct 
his  passage,  To  chop  and  saw  these  in  two  and  haul 
them  out,  required  the  most  unremitting  labor.  He, 
however,  pushed  on  till  he  got  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
Rolling  Fork,  when  he  found  the  enemy  closing  on  him 
\vith  seven  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the  meantime,  the  rapid 
strokes  of  the  axe  and  the  sound  of  falling  trees  were  heard 
in  his  rear,  showing  that  the  enemy  was  attempting  to 
block  him  up  here,  and  finish  him  at  leisure.  He  at  once 
became  anxious  for  his  boats,  and  Sherman  not  having 
arrived  as  he  expected,  he  determined  to  wheel  about  and 
make  his  way  back  while  he  could.  In  the  meantime, 
sharp-shooters  were  lining  the  banks,  and  the  crack  of  the 
rifle  mingled  in  with  the  roar  of  artillery  and  crash  of 
falling  trees.  He,  however,  succeeded  in  forcing  his  way 
back,  until  at  length  he  met  Sherman's  force.  At  first, 
he  thought  of  retracing  his  steps ;  but  the  men,  who  had 
now  for  six  days  and  nights  been  kept  constantly  at  work, 
were  worn  down,  while  the  enemy  were  gathering  in  heavy 
force  in  front,  and  he  concluded  to  abandon  the  expedition 
altogether. 

When  the  boats  finally  returned,  and  reported  this  last 
project  also  a  failure,  Grant  saw  that  it  was  in  vain  to  at- 
tempt longer  to  get  to  the  rear  of  Vicksburg  by  an  inland 
route.  The  broad  Mississippi,  sweeping  under  the  enemy's 
batteries,  was  the  only  course  now  left  him.  Long  weeks 
of  toil  had  passed  and  nothing  been  accomplished,  and 
now,  by  a  less  resolute,  persevering  man  than  Grant,  the 
task  might  have  been  abandoned  as  hopeless  ;  but  he, 
having  made  up  his  mind  to  take  Vicksburg,  determined 
to  see  no  impossibilities  in  the  way  of  doing  it. 

The  gunboats  had  shown  that  they  could  pass  the  bat- 
teries with  comparative  impunity,  and  he  resolved  to  try 


74  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

the  experiment  of  getting  transports  past  also,  while  he 
marched  his  army  inland  down  the  river  to  meet  them. 
He  had  to  wait,  however,  till  the  spring  freshets  subsided, 
for  the  country  between  Milliken's  Bend  and  New  Car- 
thage, below  Vicksburg,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river — the 
only  route  the  army  could  take — was  flooded  with  water. 
Toward  the  close  of  April  it  was  deemed  practicable  for 
the  army  to  move ;  but  before  it  started,  the  question 
must  be  decided,  whether  transports  could  be  got  past 
the  eight  miles  of  batteries  that  lined  the  shore  above 
and  below  Vicksburg.  It  was  resolved  to  test  this  matter 
at  night,  and  the  plan  adopted  was,  to  have  the  gunboats 
move  down  and  engage  the  batteries,  whilst  the  trans- 
ports, under  cover  of  the  smoke  and  darkness,  should  slip 
quickly  by,  near  the  western  shore.  It  was  a  desperate 
enterprise,  to  which  men  could  not  legitimately  be  or- 
dered, and  volunteers  were  called  for.  So  many  offered 
that  the  necessary  number  had  finally  to  be  drawn  by 
lot.  Grant  resolved  to  try  the  experiment  first  with 
three  transports. 

A  little  before  midnight,  the  gunboats  moved  from 
their  moorings  and  dropped  silently  down  the  river,  fol- 
lowed meekly  by  the  transports.  It  was  a  night  of  intense 
anxiety  to  Grant,  for  if  this  plan  failed,  even  his  fertile  re- 
sources could  see  no  way  of  getting  to  the  rear  of  Vicks- 
burg. An  hour  had  not  elapsed  after  the  boats  disap- 
peared in  the  darkness,  before  the  thunder  of  artillery 
shook  the  shore,  followed  soon  after  by  the  light  of  a  con- 
flagration, kindled  by  the  rebels,  to  light  up  the  bosom  of 
the  Mississippi.  Under  its  blaze  the  poor  transports  lay 
revealed  as  distinctly  as  though  the  noon-day  sun  was 
shining,  and  at  once  became  the  target  of  rebel  batteries. 
They,  however,  steamed  on  through  the  raining  shells  for 


THE    ARMY    BELOW    VICKSBURG.  75 

eight  miles,  and  two  of  them  succeeded  in  getting  safely 
through.  The  Henry  Clay  was  set  on  fire,  and  floated  a 
burning  wreck  down  the  river.  If  he  could  save  this 
proportion  of  transports,  Grant  was  satisfied,  and  so 
sent  down  next  night  six  more,  towing  twelve  coal 
barges.  Five  of  them  and  half  the  barges  got  through, 
though  some  of  them  were  more  or  less  damaged.  It 
was  a  great  success ;  but  now  the  army  was  to  move 
down  to  meet  them,  through  the  most  execrable  country 
troops  were  ever  called  to  march  over.  McClernand's 
corps,  forming  the  advance,  commenced  the  march ;  but  the 
country  was  soon  found  to  be  impassable,  except  by 
building  corduroy  roads.  This  required  immense  labor, 
while  twenty  miles  of  levee  had  to  be  guarded,  lest  the 
enemy  should  cut  it  and  let  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
over  the  country.  All  obstacles,  however,  were  at  length 
overcome,  and  New  Carthage,  the  point  where  the  trans- 
ports were  to  be  met,  arose  in  sight ;  but  alas,  it  was 
an  island !  The  rebels,  divining  Grant's  purpose,  had  cut 
the  levee  above  it,  and  the  Mississippi  was  flowing  around 
it  in  a  broad  stream  that  could  not  be  crossed  for  want 
of  boats.  In  this  dilemma  the  only  course  left  open  was 
to  keep  on  down  the  river,  nearly  fifty  miles,  to  Hard 
Times,  building  bridges  and  constructing  roads  as  they 
marched.  This  place  at  length  was  reached,  where  the 
transports  were  awaiting  them  to  carry  them  across  to 
Grand  Gulf,  the  spot  selected  by  Grant  from  which  to 
commence  his  march  on  Yicksburg.  But  here,  again, 
the  rebels  had  anticipated  him,  and  formidable  batteries 
frowned  from  the  place.  The  gunboats  advanced  boldly 
against  them,  and  a  fierce  engagement  followed ;  but  the 
utmost  efforts  of  Porter  could  not  silence  them,  and  the 
fleet  had  to  withdraw.  Here  was  another  dilemma,  and 


76  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

the  expedition  seemed  brought  to  a  halt.     Grant,  seeing 
himself  effectually  stopped,  disembarked  his  troops,  which 
had  already  been  put  on  board  the  transports,  and  started 
them  once  more  through  the  forest  down  the  river,  to  a 
point  below,  called  Bruinsburg ;  and  directed  the  gunboats 
to  run  the  batteries  of  Grand  Gulf  as  they  had  those 
of  Vicksburg.     This  was  successfully  done,  and  next  to 
the  last  day  of  April  the  army  was  transported  across  to 
the  eastern  shore,  Grant  being  the  first  man  to  set  foot  on 
land.      That  very   afternoon   McClernand's   corps   was 
started  off  toward  Port  Gibson,  lying  to  the   southeast 
of  Grand  Gulf.     He  did  not  even  wait  for  the  army- 
wagons  to  be  brought  across  the  river,  but  with  three 
days1'  rations  moved  off  at  once.     Grand  Gulf,  which  he 
designed  to  make  his  base  of  supplies,  must  be  taken  be- 
fore the  enemy  at  Vicksburg,  informed  of  his  intentions, 
could  reinforce  the  place.     He  saw  that  it  must  be  swift 
marching,  quick  fighting,  sudden  and  constant  victories, 
or  the  storm  would  gather  so  heavily  about  him  that  his  ad- 
vance would  be  stopped.     Hence  he  ordered  as  little  bag- 
gage to  be  taken  as  possible,  and  set  the  example  of  re- 
trenchment himself.     Washburne,  member  of  Congress 
from  Illinois,  his  ever  fast  friend,  accompanied  the  ex- 
pedition, and  says  that  Grant  took   with  him  "  neither 
a  horse,  nor  an  orderly,  nor  a  camp-chest,  nor  an  over- 
coat, nor  a  blanket,  nor  even  a  clean  shirt.    His  entire 
baggage  for  six  days  was  a  tooth-brush.     He  fared  like 
the   commonest   soldier   in   his   command,  partaking  of 
his  rations  and  sleeping  upon  the  ground,  with  no  covering 
but  the  canopy  of  heaven."     This  shows  not  only  how 
terribly  in  earnest  Grant  at  this  point  was,  but  also  how 
thoroughly  he  comprehended  the  peril  of  his  situation. 
McClernand's  corps  had  started  at  three  o'clock  in 


GRAND    GULP    EVACUATED.  77 

the  afternoon,  and  kept  up  its  march  till  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  it  was  suddenly  brought  to  a  halt  by 
a  battery  in  its  path.  At  daybreak  this  was  recon- 
noitred. No  time  could  be  wasted,  and  the  battery, 
which  occupied  an  eminence,  protected  by  a  heavy  force 
which  had  been  sent  down  from  Grand  Gulf,  was  at- 
tacked on  both  flanks  at  once.  Severe  fighting  followed, 
which  lasted  most  of  the  day,  and  for  a  time  it  looked  as 
if  Grant  would  be  stopped  right  here.  But  he  pressed 
the  enemy  so  fiercely,  that,  as  soon  as  night  came  on,  the 
latter  retreated,  leaving  five  cannon  and  a  thousand  prison- 
ers in  our  hands.  Our  loss  was  nearly  eight  hundred. 
Grant  wrote  his  despatch  respecting  the  battle  by  moon- 
light. The  columns  now  pushed  on  to  Port  Gibson,  which 
so  uncovered  Grand  Gulf  that  it  was  hastily  evacuated. 
Grant  rode  across  the  country  fifteen  miles  to  visit  it, 
and  establish  his  base  of  supplies  before  advancing 
against  Vicksburg.  He  designed  to  halt  here  until  he 
could  gather  in  all  his  forces  and  supplies,  and  fix  every- 
thing on  a  firm  footing  before  pushing  into  the  interior. 
But  here  another  disappointment  met  him,  apparently 
more  serious  than  any  which  had  yet  befallen  him.  He 
had  expected  Banks,  with  his  army,  to  join  him,  when 
he  would  be  strong  enough  to  meet  the  combined  forces 
of  the  enemy,  and  move  cautiously  to  the  investment  of 
Vicksburg.  But  this  commander  refused  to  comply 
with  his  request,  saying  that  he  had  work  of  his  own  on 
hand.  It  was  a  serious  question  now  what  course  pru- 
dence would  dictate.  Troops,  he  knew,  were  moving 
from  the  east  toward  Vicksburg,  under  Johnston,  and  the 
rebel  leader  could,  in  a  short  time,  concentrate  an  over- 
whelming force  against  him.  To  guard  against  this  as 
much  as  possible,  he  had  left  Sherman's  corps  behind, 


78  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

at  Milliken's  Bend,  to  make  a  demonstration  against 
Haines1  Bluff,  so  that  the  enemy  would  not  send  off 
troops  south  to  oppose  him.  The  ruse  succeeded ;  the 
enemy  were  deceived  and  kept  at  that  point,  when  Sher- 
man sailed  back  to  Milliken's  Bend,  and  following  in  the 
track  of  the  army,  joined  it  at  Grand  Gulf 

Grant  now  took  a  rapid,  comprehensive  survey  of  his 
position,  and  saw  plainly  that  but  two  courses  lay  open 
to  him — either  to  join  Banks,  who  would  not  join  him, 
and  help  to  take  Port  Hudson,  which  he  undoubtedly 
would  have  been  ordered  to  do,  could  the  War  Depart- 
ment have  communicated  with  him,  or,  cutting  loose 
from  everything,  take  his  gallant  army  in  hand,  and 
boldly  pushing  inland,  like  the  First  Napoleon  in  his 
famous  Italian  campaign,  endeavor  to  strike  the  enemy, 
in  detail,  before  he  could  concentrate  his  forces.  He  did 
not  hesitate  for  a  moment,  but  chose  the  latter  course, 
perilous  as  it  was.  He  knew  he  must  have  victories, 
successive,  rapid,  and  constant,  or  he  was  lost.  In  this 
decision,  and  the  way  he  carried  it  out,  he  showed  that 
he  was  capable  of  the  inspiration  of  true*  genius,  which 
commonly  belongs  to  those  of  a  more  imaginative,  im- 
petuous temperament. 

The  rebel  General  Bowen,  when  he  evacuated  Grand 
Gulf,  retreated  across  the  Big  Black  river,  directly  to 
Vicksburg,  and  joined  Pemberton.  Johnston,  with  an- 
other army,  was  at  Jackson,  forty-five  miles  east  of 
Vicksburg,  ready  to  move  on  Grant's  rear  the  moment 
he  advanced  north  on  that  place.  The  latter  manoeuvred 
so  as  to  favor  this  plan,  and  deceived  the  enemy  into  the 
belief  that  he  designed  to  cross  the  Big  Black,  in  the  track 
of  Bowen,  and  follow  him  to  the  intrenchments  of  Vicks- 
burg. Cutting  loose  from  Grand  Gulf,  and  depending 


CAPTURE   OP   JACKSON.  79 

mainly  on  the  country  to  supply  his  lack  of  forage  and 
supplies,  he  moved  to  the  Big  Black.  Instead  of  crossing, 
however,  he  marched  rapidly  up  the  southern  bank, 
and  struck  off  east  toward  Jackson.  On  the  way 
Logan  found  two  brigades  at  Raymond,  and  crushed 
them  with  one  terrible  blow.  Through  the  blinding  rain, 
and  mud,  and  darkness,  McPherson,  commanding  the 
right,  pushed  on,  and  at  length,  on  the  14th,  came 
within  two  and  a  half  miles  of  Jackson,  where  the  enemy 
was  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  on  the  crest  of  a  hill.  A 
plain  stretched  away  from  the  bottom  of  it,  swept  by  the 
rebel  artillery.  But  over  it,  with  shouldered  arms,  and 
drums  beating,  the  gallant  troops  moved  without  flinch- 
ing, till  within  pistol-shot  of  the  hostile  ranks,  when, 
giving  one  terrible  volley,  they  sprang  forward  with 
the  bayonet,  rending  the  rebel  host  like  a  bolt  from 
heaven. 

Jackson  was  won,  and  Grant  felt  a  load  lifted  from 
his  heart  as  he  saw  himself  planted  between  the  rebel 
armies. 

No  time,  however,  was  to  be  lost.  Pemberton  was 
already  on  his  way  from  Vicksburg  to  assail  his  rear,  and 
there  could  be  no  rest  to  his  army  till  it  once  more  touch- 
ed the  Mississippi  north  of  Vicksburg,  where  supplies  and 
men  to  any  needed  amount  could  reach  him.  That  very 
evening,  leaving  Sherman  at  Jackson  to  complete  the 
work  of  destruction  of  railroads,  bridges,  &c.,  he  wheeled 
about,  and  moved  rapidly  back  toward  Vicksburg. 
When  he  got  within  two  miles  of  the  Big  Black  river, 
he  came  upon  the  enemy  strongly  posted  on  Champion's 
Hill,  in  thick  woods,  with  their  batteries  sweeping  all  the 
roads  and  fields  over  which  his  columns  must  advance. 
Grant,  who  had  so  boldly  swung  his  army  clear  of  its 
6 


80  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

base,  and  set  it  down  in  the  open  country  beset  by  foes 
on  every  side,  commanded  this  battle  in  person.  A 
heavy  force  from  the  north  was  hurrying  down  to  crush 
him  between  it  and  Pemberton,  and  he  must  not  only  win 
victories  at  every  step,  but  win  them  suddenly.  He 
could  not  risk  even  a  delay,  much  less  a  repulse,  and  he 
at  once  opened  the  contest.  The  enemy  charged  boldly, 
and  at  length  drove  the  centre  slowly  back.  But  Grant 
had  taken  the  precaution,  when  he  heard  of  the  proximity 
of  the  rebels,  to  send  back  to  Sherman  to  hurry  forward, 
and  one  of  his  divisions  coming  up  at  this  critical  mo- 
ment, restored  the  battle.  Meanwhile,  Logan  had  been 
working  to  the  rebel  left,  and  no  sooner  did  Grant  receive 
word  that  he  was  in  the  desired  position,  than  he  gave 
•orders  for  the  whole  line  to  advance.  With  a  cheer,  a 
tplunging  volley,  and  a  headlong  dash,  the  weary  bat 
•excited  troops  went  through  the  thickets  and  over  the  hill, 
rtaking  two  batteries  and  a  thousand  prisoners.  But 
'Grant  had  pushed  them  so  fiercely  forward  in  the  conflict, 
fthat  he  lost  between  two  and  three  thousand  men. 

Keeping  on  the  next  morning,  he  found  the  enemy 
strongly  posted  on  both  sides  of  the  Big  Black  river.  On 
the  side  nearest  him  they  were  encircled  by  a  bayou  with 
its  extremities  touching  the  river  above  and  below  their 
position,  while  on  the  opposite  side  arose  a  bluff  black 
with  batteries.  McClernand  had  scarcely  opened  with 
his  artillery,  when  the  gallant  Osterhaus  was  wounded. 
In  the  meantime,  General  Lawler  had  crept  unob- 
served around  to  the  right  till  he  reached  the  bayou, 
when  the  men,  flinging  their  blankets  and  haversacks  on 
the  ground,  plunged  into  the  water,  and  struggling  across 
amid  the  raining  bullets,  suddenly  appeared  in  the  enemy's 
rear.  Fifteen  hundred  prisoners  and  eighteen  cannon  fell 


VICKSBURG   INVESTED.  81 

into  our  hands  here,  while  our  total  loss  was  only  three 
hundred  and  seventy-three. 

The  railroad  and  turnpike  bridges  both  crossed  the 
river  at  this  point,  and  the  rebels,  on  the  opposite  bluff, 
no  sooner  saw  our  troops  in  possession  of  this  position, 
than  they  destroyed  them,  thus  cutting  off  at  the  same 
time  our  army  and  that  portion  of  theirs  which  held 
the  position  within  the  semicircular  bayou.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  transient  delay  to  our  forces,  Pember- 
ton  withdrew  his  troops  into  the  defences  of  Vicksburg. 
Grant  now  had  but  one  more  step  to  take,  when  he  would 
feel  for  the  first  time  comparatively  safe,  viz.,  strike  the 
Mississippi  above  Vicksburg  with  the  right  wing  of  his 
army.  Confident  that  he  would  defeat  the  enemy  on  the 
Big  Black,  he  had  sent  Sherman  to  cross  farther  up- 
stream, and  move  across  to  the  Yazoo,  where  Porter  lay 
with  his  gunboats.  In  the  meantime,  bridging  the  Big 
Black  river,  McClernand  passed  on  in  front,  McPherson 
following  the  road  taken  by  Sherman,  till  the  latter  bore 
to  the  right  to  strike  the  Yazoo.  Haines1  Bluff,  which 
for  so  many  months  had  been  a  lion  in  our  path  to  Vicks- 
burg, was  cut  off  from  the  latter  place  by  Sherman's 
movement,  antl  fell  into  our  hands.  By  the  19th  of  May, 
the  three  army  corps  were  in  position,  extending  from  the 
Mississippi  below  to  its  banks  above  Vicksburg,  thus 
completely  investing  the  place. 

After  long  months  of  toiling  and  waiting — after 
repeated  failures,  till  the  enemy  laughed  in  derision  at 
Grant's  futile  obstinacy,  he  had  at  last,  by  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  military  movements  on  record,  succeeded  in 
flinging  his  strong  arms  around  the  Gibraltar  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. From  the  perseverance  he  had  shown  from  the 
outset,  from  the  tireless  energy  with  which  he  had  worked 


82  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

undeviatingly  toward  that  single  point,  from  the  rapid 
and  tremendous  blows  he  had  dealt  as  he  bore  swiftly  and 
fiercely  down  upon  it  at  last,  Pembertoii  well  knew  that 
"no  maiden's  arms  were  round  him  thrown."  Still, 
notwithstanding  all  that  Grant  had  overcome,  his  long 
inarches,  frequent  battles,  and  unbroken  victories,  had 
only  brought  him  to  the  threshold  of  his  great  undertak- 
ing. The  work  to  be  accomplished  was  yet  all  before  him. 
Thinking  that  the  heavy  blows  he  had  dealt  the 
enemy,  and  his  sudden  appearance  in  his  rear,  had  so 
demoralized  him  that  he  could  not  make  a  stubborn 
stand  behind  his  defences,  he  attempted  to  carry  the 
place  by  a  sudden  assault.  Repulsed  in  this,  he  spent 
several  days  in  perfecting  communications  with  his  sup- 
plies, and,  on  the  22d,  made  a  second  grand  assault  along 
the  whole  line.  He  caused  the  watches  of  the  corps 
commanders  to  be  set  by  his,  so  that  the  advance  should 
be  simultaneous,  and  at  ten  o'clock  the  devoted  columns 
moved  off.  Grant  took  a  commanding  position  near 
McPherson's  quarters,  from  which  he  could  see  the  advanc- 
ing columns  in  front,  and  a  part  of  those  of  Sherman 
and  McClernand.  Smoking  his  inevitable  cigar,  he  saw 
them  steadily  cross  the  field,  enter  the  deadly  fire,  and 
with  banners  "  high  advanced,"  move  proudly  on  the 
strong  defences.  The  fire  of  the  enemy  was  fearful,  and 
the  earth  trembled  under  the  crash  of  artillery.  At  first, 
it  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  stop  that  grand  advance ; 
and  through  the  whirling  smoke  Grant  saw,  with  delight, 
all  along  the  line,  here  and  there  banners  planted  on  the 
outer  slope  of  the  enemy's  bastions.  But  when  breast  to 
breast  with  those  strong  defences,  the  fire  that  swept  them 
was  so  awful,  and  the  barriers  that  opposed  them  so  in- 
accessible, that  they  could  advance  no  farther.  For  five 


SIEGE   OF   VICKSBURG.  83 

hours  they  stood  and  struggled,  and  fell  there  in  vain, 
and  at  length  were  compelled  to  give  it  up.  Our  loss 
was  heavy,  and  no  advantage  gained. 

Gen.  Grant  gave  several  reasons  for  making  this  as- 
sault, the  chief  of  which  were  that  Johnston  was  being 
daily  reinforced,  and  in  a  few  days  would  be  able  to  fall 
on  his  rear ;  that  the  possession  of  Vicksburg  would  havo 
enabled  him  to  turn  upon  him  and  drive  him  from  the 
State  ;  that  its  immediate  capture  would  have  prevented 
the  necessity  of  calling  for  large  reinforcements  that  were 
needed  elsewhere ;  and,  finally,  that  the  troops  were  im- 
patient to  possess  Vicksburg,  and  would  not  have  worked 
in  the  trenches  with  the  same  zeal,  not  believing  it  neces- 
sary, as  they  did,  after  their  failure  to  carry  the  works  by 
storm. 

These  were  good  reasons,  but  we  suspect  that  he  did 
not  give  the  strongest  one  of  all.  In  his  attack  on  Fort 
Donelson,  he  had  said,  in  reply  to  Buckner's  request  for 
an  armistice,  "  I  propose  to  move  immediately  on  your 
works."  This,  at  that  time,  he  could  say,  for  the  position 
that  Smith  had  secured  made  success  morally  certain. 
The  Secretary  of  War,  however,  had  taken  up  the  phrase, 
and  in  a  letter,  sounding  more  like  the  rhodomontade  of 
a  school-boy  than  the  utterance  of  a  Secretary  of  War  of 
a  great  nation,  said,  in  effect,  that  this  was  all  the 
strategy  needed  to  secure  victories.  It  had  caught  the 
popular  ear,  and  being  uttered  at  a  time  when  it  was  all 
the  fashion  to  ridicule  siege  operations — "  General  Spade" 
was  a  sobriquet  applied  to  any  one  who  undertook  them 
— it  was  hardly  safe  for  a  commander  to  resort  to  them 
without  the  most  indubitable  evidence  that  nothing  else 
could  be  done.  He  knew  perfectly  well  that  he  was  ex- 
pected to  move  immediately  on  the  enemy's  works,  and 


84  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

he  was  far  from  sure,  if  he  did  not  do  so,  that  the  extra- 
ordinary War  Department  would  not  see  that  some  one 
was  put  in  his  place  that  would.  The  feelings  of  that 
Department,  .and  the  popular  sentiment  at  the  time, 
would  not  have  sustained  him  if  he  had  not  made  the 
attempt.  It  was  not  after  all,  we  imagine,  so  much  the 
impatience  of  his  devoted  troops,  as  the  outside  impatience, 
that  he  feared. 

The  second  assault,  however,  settled  the  question,  and 
he  sat  down  before  the  place  in  regular  siege,  and  soon 
reinforcements  began  to  pour  in  to  him.  These  he  im- 
peratively needed,  for  between  casualties  and  sickness,  his 
actual  effective  army,  when  he  began  the  investment  of 
Vicksburg,  numbered  less  than  that  of  the  garrison. 

Forts  were  now  erected  over  against  forts ;  corridors, 
passages,  and  pits  were  dug ;  the  parallels  gradually 
worked  closer  and  closer,  notwithstanding  the  steady  play 
of  artillery  and  ceaseless  volleys  of  musketry,  and  a  blaz- 
ing southern  sun.  Day  after  day  the  work  went  steadily 
on,  and  on  the  25th,  the  first  mine  was  sprung  under  one 
of  the  principal  forts  of  the  enemy,  and  a  fierce,  bloody 
struggle  ensued  for  its  possession.  Other  mines  were 
dug — the  enemy  ran  countersaps,  so  that  often  only  a 
thin  wall  of  earth  divided  the  hostile  working  parties. 
All  this  time,  at  intervals,  Porter  was  thundering  away 
in  the  Mississippi  at  the  stronghold,  and  in  the  conflict 
lost  the  Cincinnati.  Shells  were  flung  from  mortars, 
and  two  one  hundred  pound  Parrott  guns  mounted  on 
rafts,  and  from  countless  batteries,  until  a  horrible  tempest 
fell  on  the  hostile  works  and  on  the  city  itself,  compelling 
the  inhabitants  to  dig  caves  in  the  earth  in  which  to  hide 
from  the  incessant  rain  of  death.  Famine  at  length 
began  to  stare  the  garrison  in  the  face,  while  Grant  had 


AN    ARMISTICE    PROPOSED.  85 

dug  his  way  up  so  close  to  the  works,  that  a  single  bound 
would  send  his  eager  columns  over  them. 

For  forty-six  days  did  he  patiently  dig  his  way  to- 
ward the  doomed  fcity,  until  Pemberton,  who  had  ex- 
hausted every  means  of  defence,  and  held  on  till  his 
scanty  provisions  were  nearly  gone,  waiting  and  hoping 
for  Johnston  to  raise  the  siege,  at  length  gave  up  in  des- 
pair, and  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Grant  with  the  following 
communication : 

i 

GENERAL  :    I  have  the  honor  to  propose  to  you  an  armistice  for 

hours,  with  a  view  to  arranging  terms  for  the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg.  To 
this  end,  if  agreeable  to  you,  I  will  appoint  three  Commissioners  to  meet  a 
like  number  to  be  appointed  by  yourself,  at  such  a  place  and  hour  to-day  as 
you  may  find  convenient.  I  make  this  proposition  to  save  the  further  effu- 
sion of  blood,  which  must  otherwise  be  shed  to  a  frightful  extent,  feeling 
myself  fully  able  to  maintain  my  position  for  a  yet  indefinite  period.  This 
communication  will  be  handed  you  under  a  flag  of  truce,  by  Major-General 
James  Bowen.  Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  0.  PEMBEETOIT. 

To  this  Grant  replied  as  follows : 

GENEBAL  :  Your  note  of  this  date,  just  received,  proposes  an  armistice  ot 
several  hours,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  terms  of  capitulation  through 
Commissioners  to  be  appointed,  &c.  The  effusion  of  blood  you  propose  stop- 
ping by  this  course,  can  be  ended  at  any  time  you  may  choose,  by  an  un- 
conditional surrender  of  the  city  and  garrison.  Men  who  have  shown  so 
much  endurance  and  courage  as  those  now  in  Vicksburg,  will  always  chal- 
lenge the  respect  of  an  adversary,  and,  I  can  assure  you,  will  be  treated  with 
all  the  respect  due  them  as  prisoners  of  war.  I  do  not  favor  the  proposi- 
tion of  Commissioners  to  arrange  terms  of  capitulation,  because  I  have  no 
other  terms  than  those  indicated  above. 

I  am,  General,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

TJ.  S.  GEANT,  Major-General. 

This  was  followed  by  an  interview  between  the  two 


86  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

generals,  midway  between  the  two  armies,  at  three  o'clock, 
in  which  Pemberton  insisted  on  terms  which  Grant 
could  not  accept,  and  they  parted,  Grant  saying  that  he 
would  give  in  a*  letter  his  ultimatuni:  this  was  the  sur- 
render of  the  place  and  garrison — the  latter  to  be  paroled 
and  march  away,  the  officers  with  their  regimental  cloth- 
ing, and  staff,  field,  and  cavalry  officers  one  horse  each; 
the  rank  and  file  to  be  allowed  all  their  clothing — nothing 
more — and  to  take  such  rations  as  they  needed,  and  uten- 
sils for  cooking  them. 

These  terms,  with  very  little  modifications,  were 
accepted,  and  the  next  day,  the  ever-memorable  4th  of 
July,  the  national  flag  went  up  over  the  stronghold  amyl 
loud  cheers.  On  this  same  anniversary  of  the  birth- 
day of  our  Independence,  there  was  being  decided  amid 
flame,  and  thunder,  and  carnage,  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 
East  and  west,  at  the  same  time,  on  the  same  Jubilee  day, 
the  rebellion  culminated,  and  ever  after,  though  with 
unequal  movements,  staggered  downward  to  its  final 
overthrow. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

FALL  OP  PORT  HUDSON — THE  PRESIDENT'S  LETTER  TO  GRANT — REVIEW 
OP  THE  CAMPAIGN  —  A  PUBLIC  RECEPTION  IN  VlCKSBURG  —  VISITS 
NEW  ORLEANS — IS  THROWN  FROM  HIS  HORSE  AND  INJURED — PLACED 
OVER  THE  MILITARY  DIVISION  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI  —  PLACED  IN  COM- 
MAND AT  CHATTANOOGA — ORDERS  SHERMAN  TO  MARCH  ACROSS  THE 
COUNTRY  TO  JOIN  HIM — HIS  PLAN  FOR  RAISING  THE  SIEGE — THE  BAT- 
TLE— GRANT'S  APPEARANCE  ON  THE  FIELD  —  THE  GRAND  ATTACK  OP 

THE  CENTRE  UNDER  HIS  OWN  EYE — MISSIONARY  RIDGE  CARRIED — THE 
PURSUIT — AN  INDIAN  CHIEF'S  OPINION  OF  GRANT — THE  PRESIDENT'S  LET- 
TER OF  THANKS  —  GRANT'S  ORDER  —  CONGRESS  VOTES  HIM  A  MEDAL — 
HE  VISITS  NASHVILLE  AND  KNOXVILLE — REFUSES  TO  MAKE  A  SPEECH 
— CREATION  OF  THE  RANK  OF  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL — GRANT  NOMINA- 
TED TO  IT — ENTERS  ON  HIS  DUTIES — IMMENSE  PREPARATIONS  FOR 
THE  COMING  CAMPAIGN — THE  COUNTRY'S  PATIENCE  UNDER  DELAYS — 
TWO  ARMIES  TO  MOVE  SIMULTANEOUSLY — THE  BELL  OP  DESTINY 
BEGINS  TO  TOLL. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  Port 
Hudson,  which  was  a  mere  pendant  to  it,  capitulated, 
and  the  Mississippi  was  open  to  the  Gulf. 

The  event  was  hailed  with  enthusiastic  joy  through- 
out the  land ,  the  South  was  cut  in  twain,  and  one 
or  two  more  bisections,  it  was  felt,  would  finish  the 
monstrous  abortion  called  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
Grant  was  blamed  for  paroling  the  garrison,  and  the  act 
complicated  very  much  the  after-exchange  of  prisoners  of 
war,  or  rather  ostensibly  so,  for  the  actual  cause  of  the 
difficulty  lay  entirely  outside  of  this  arrangement. 

The   President  wrote   a  letter  of  congratulation  to 


88  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

Grant,  in  which  he  said,  "  When  you  got  below,  and  took 
Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you 
should  go  down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks;  and 
when  you  turned  northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  fear- 
ed it  was  a  mistake.      I  now  wish  to  make  a  personal 
acknowledgment  that  you  were  right,  and  I  was  wrong." 
This  letter  was  a  good  deal  commented  on,  the  op- 
position declaring  that  it  showed  what   a  blunder  the 
Government  would  have  committed,  if  it  had  been  able  to 
have  its  own  way.     As  events  turned  out,  Grant  was 
right :  and  there  is  never  any  use  in  reasoning  against 
success.     But  in  truth,  looking  at  all  the  facts  and  un- 
certainties of  the  case,  prudence  would  have  dictated  that 
if  Banks  would  not  join  Grant,  he  had  better  join  him. 
The  former  should  have  at  once  raised  the  siege  of  Port 
Hudson,  and  entered  on  the  campaign  of  the  latter.      As 
he  would  not,  however,  the  course  that  Grant  took,  with 
the  comparatively  small  number  of  troops  under  him, 
was  fraught  with  the  deepest  peril.     When  it  was  known 
that  he  had  cut  lopse   from  his  base,  and,  Cortez-like, 
struck  off  into  the  interior,  the  President  was  not  the 
only  one  who  feared  that  he  had  made  a  mistake ;  but 
all  students  of  military  history  trembled  for  him.     Had 
this  been  the  only  course  left  open  for  him,  the  case 
would  have  been  different ;   but,  by  a  little   delay,  he 
doubtless  could  have  had  the  army  of  Banks,  and  been 
made  sure  against  any  overwhelming  disaster.      Where- 
as, by  the  course  he  took,  he  not  only  ran  the  risk  of  de- 
feat, but  perilled  the  safety  of  his  entire  army.     When 
Napoleon  adopted  similar  tactics  in   his  great  Italian 
campaign,  no  more  soldiers  were  within  his  reach,  and 
what  he  did,  he  knew  must  be  done  with  the  army  under 
him.     This  was  not  strictly  the  case  with  Grant,  and 


HIS   NEW   COMMAND.  89 

hence  the  great  risk  he  run  was  to  some  extent  unneces- 
sary. But,  as  before  remarked,  it  is  idle  to  reason  against 
success.  Grant  won  it,  and  not  by  mere  good  luck,  but 
by  brilliant  manoeuvring,  swift  marching,  and  splendid 
fighting ;  and  he  at  once  rose  to  the  first  rank  among  the 
generals  of  the  army.  Victory  sometimes  so  dazzles 
men,  that  they  cannot  see  the  blunders  committed,  and 
that  ought  to  have  brought  defeat ;  but  in  this  case, 
from  the  moment  that  Grant  took  the  bold  resolution  of 
cutting  loose  from  his  communications,  he  made  no  mis- 
take, but  moved  toward  his  object  like  one  of  heaven's 
own  thunderbolts, 

"  Shattering  that  it  might  reach,  and  shattering 
What  it  reached." 

Grant  now  took  up  his  headquarters  in  Vicksburg,  and 
soon  after  went  to  Memphis  to  superintend  the  affairs  of  his 
department,  when  he  was  honored  with  a  public  reception. 

On  the  first  of  September  he  sailed  for  New  Orleans. 
During  his  visit  there,  while  reviewing  the  Thirteenth 
Corps,  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  badly  bruised. 
Before  he  was  entirely  recovered,  he  went  North,  and  at 
Indianapolis  met  General  Halleck  by  appointment,  who 
gave  him  a  general  order,  which  put  him  in  command  of 
the  "Departments  of  the  Ohio,  of  the  Cumberland,  and 
of  the  Tennessee,  constituting  the  Military  Division  of  the 
Mississippi."  This  was  by  far  the  most  extensive  depart- 
ment yet  given  to  any  one  commander. 

In  the  mean  time  Rosecrans  had  been  defeated  at 
Chickamauga,  and  shut  up  in  Chattanooga.  Thomas 
for  awhile  superseded  him,  when  Grant  was  ordered 
there  to  take  command  in  person.  Sherman,  mean- 
while, whom  Grant,  after  the  capture  of  Vicksburg, 


90  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

sent  back  to  Jackson  to  drive  out  the  rebels,  had  been 
previously  ordered  to  send  a  division  to  Memphis,  to 
march  from  thence  across  the  country,  to  the  relief  of 
Chattanooga.  Another  order  immediately  followed, 
directing  him  to  move  with  his  whole  army. 

When  Grant  reached  Chattanooga,  he  found  affairs 
in  a  desperate  state.  Bragg  had  closed  round  it,  his 
lines  reaching  from  the  river  north  of  the  place,  along 
Missionary  Ridge,  to  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  south, 
and  so  cutting  off  the  communications  of  the  army,  that 
all  supplies  had  to  be  dragged  for  sixty  miles  across  the 
country,  and  over  abominable  roads.  In  fact,  there  was 
momentarily  danger  of  their  being  permanently  severed, 
when  the  army  in  Chattanooga  would  have  to  retreat 
with  the  loss  of  its  artillery,  even  if  it  saved  itself.  In 
the  meantime,  batteries  were  planted  by  the  rebels  all 
along  the  heights  that  overlooked  the  place,  ready  at  any 
moment  to  open  a  bombardment  upon  it.  Bragg,  confi- 
dent of  success,  had  previously  sent  off  Longstreet, 
to  drive  Burnside  from  Knoxville.  Government,  aware 
of  the  peril  to  this  great  strategic  point,  had  hurried  off 
from  the  east  Hooker,  with  two  corps,  but  even  his  arrival 
did  not  make  Grant  strong  enough  to  assume  the  offensive. 

He,  however,  found  a  giant  to  lean  upon  in  Chatta- 
nooga, in  the  noble  Thomas,  and  with  him  calmly  surveyed 
the  prospect  before  him.  His  plans  were  soon  laid,  and 
he  only  waited  the  arrival  of  Sherman,  toiling  across  the 
country,  to  put  them  in  operation.  He  had  previously 
made  a  lodgment  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee,  at 
Brown's  Ferry,  three  miles  below  where  Lookout  Moun- 
tain abuts  on  the  river,  by  which  navigation  was  opened 
to  the  ferry,  thus  shortening  his  land  transportation, 
and  securing  certain  supplies  to  the  army.  Fifty  pon- 


CHATTANOOGA.  91 

toons,  carrying  twelve  hundred  men,  were  floated  by 
night  down  the  river,  unobserved  by  the  enemy's  pickets, 
and  landed  at  the  ferry.  These  were  immediately 
ferried  across  to  the  opposite  side,  and  about  three  thou- 
sand men,  who  had  been  secretly  marched  down  to  the 
point  and  concealed,  were  brought  over,  and  the  position 
secured,  compelling  the  enemy  to  retreat  to  Lookout 
Mountain.  In  less  than  forty  hours,  the  Eleventh  Corps 
was  also  across,  and  encamped  in  Lookout  Valley. 
Grant  now  had  a  foothold  on  the  left  flank  of  the  rebel 
line,  and  he  only  waited  the  arrival  of  Sherman  to  take 
position  on  the  right  flank  above  Chattanooga,  to  carry 
out  his  projected  attack.  In  the  mean  time,  Bragg  sent 
a  message  to  Grant,  to  remove  non-combatants  from  the 
place,  as  he  was  about  to  open  his  batteries  upon  it.  To 
this  Grant  returned  no  reply,  for  he  was  about  ready 
to  answer  with  his  batteries  and  charging  columns. 
Sherman's  army,  when  it  finally  reached  Chattanooga, 
was  weary  and  footsore,  yet  no  time  could  be  given  it 
for  rest,  and  it  marched  at  once  to  its  destined  position. 
On  the  24th  of  November  it  crossed  the  Tennessee,  on  a 
pontoon  bridge,  the  head  of  which  on  the  south  shore  had 
been  secured  the  night  before  by  a  surprise ;  and  took  up 
its  position  on  Missionary  Ridge,  thus  threatening 
Bragg's  immediate  communications.  The  day  before, 
Thomas  had  made  a  reconnoissance  in  his  front  to  develop 
the  enemy's  line,  and  taken,  after  a  short  conflict,  Indian 
Hill  or  Orchard  Knob,  that  overlooked  the  rebel  rifle- 
pits.  Hooker,  in  the  mean  time,  pressed  up  the  rugged 
height  of  Lookout  Mountain,  driving  the  enemy  before 
him;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  looked  down  from 
his  dizzy  elevation  on  Chattanooga  below,  with  which  he 
established  communications. 


92  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GEANT. 

BATTLE     OF     CHATTANOOGA. 

Everything  had  thus  far  worked  as  Grant  had 
planned ;  and  now  the  last  blow  was  to  be  struck, 
Sherman  was  to  press  heavily  Bragg's  right  on  Mis- 
sionary Ridge  and  threaten  his  communications,  so  that 
he  would  be  compelled  to  weaken  his  centre  to  repel  the 
advance,  and  then  Thomas  was  to  move  straight  on  the 
centre,  and  finish  the  battle  with  a  clap  of  thunder. 

Sherman  commenced  his  attack  early  in  the  morning, 
and  moving  down  from  the  elevation  he  occupied,  crossed 
a  road,  and  attempted  to  ascend  the  opposite  heights.  It 
was  a  fearful  work  that  had  been  assigned  him,  and  his 
bleeding  columns  swayed  upward  and  backward  in  the 
uncertain  fight,  yet  each  hour  pressing  the  enemy's  right 
heavier  and  heavier.  Hooker  had  come  down  from 
Lookout  Mountain,  where  he  had  been  fighting  above 
the  clouds,  and  was  thundering  away  on  the  rebel  left. 
Grant,  in  the  centre,  stood  on  Orchard  Knob,  smoking 
his  cigar,  listening  to  the  thunder-crash  to  the  left  and 
right  of  him,  and  waiting  for  the  auspicious  moment  when 
Thomas  could  be  sent  in  on  the  centre.  The  forenoon 
slowly  wore  away,  and  Sherman,  seeing  the  rebel  bat- 
teries and  troops  steadily  increasing  in  his  front,  looked 
anxiously  away  toward  Orchard  Knob ;  but  all  was 
silent  there.  Noon  came,  and  on  both  extremities  the 
roar  of  battle  still  shook  the  heights,  yet  between,  all 
was  motionless  and  silent.  The  hour  of  destiny  had  not 
yet  come.  Sherman  continued  to  press  the  enemy  fiercely 
in  his  front,  compelling  him  still  more  to  weaken  his  cen- 
tre to  resist  the  advance ;  but  his  men  were  getting 
weary,  and  his  thinned  battalions  saw  no  hope  of  reach- 
ing  the  bristling  heights  above  them.  The  afternoon 
passed  on  leaden  wings  to  them ;  but  at  length  Grant 


A  SACHEM'S  VIEWS  OF  GRANT.  93 

saw  that  the  decisive  moment  had  arrived.  It  was  now 
nearly  four  o'clock,  and  the  signal  to  advance  was  given. 
This  was  six  cannon-shots  fired  at  intervals  of  two  sec- 
onds each.  With  regular  beat,  one,  two,  three  sounded, 
till,  as  the  last  deep  reverberation  rolled  away  over  the 
heights,  there  was  a  sudden  resurrection,  as  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  of  that  apparently  dead  line.  Three  divi- 
sions of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  composed  it.  A 
mile  and  a  half  of  broken  country  lay  before  them  to  the 
rifle-pits  at  the  base  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  then  there 
remained  the  rocky  hill,  four  hundred  feet  high,  to  mount, 
every  inch  of  it  swept  by  artillery  and  musketry.  Over 
this  intervening  space  the  columns  moved  at  a  rapid  pace, 
breasting  the  fire  of  the  rebel  batteries,  and  at  length 
reached  the  rifle-pits.  Clearing  these  at  a  bound,  they  be- 
gan to  climb  the  steep.  Met  by  the  awful  fire  that  rolled 
in  a  lava-stream  down  its  sides,  the  regiments  worked 
their  way  slowly  up.  Taking  the  matter  into  their  own 
hands,  they  seemed  to  act  without  orders,  each  deter- 
mined to  be  first  at  the  top.  It  was  a  thrilling  spectacle 
to  see  those  banners  advance — now  one,  and  then  another, 
fluttering  highest  up  the  acclivity  amid  flame  and  smoka 
The  ranks  melted  rapidly  away,  but  the  survivors  kept 
on.  Grant  gazed,  apparently  unmoved,  at  the  sight,  yet 
with  his  whole  soul  in  the  struggle.  Even  the  impassa- 
ble Thomas,  as  he  saw  the  slow  and  doubtful  progress, 
exclaimed  to  Grant,  "  I  fear,  General,  they  will  never  reach 
the  top."  The  latter,  puffing  the  smoke  from  his  cigar, 
merely  replied,  "  Give  'em  time,  General ;  give  'em  time." 
At  last,  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  west,  flooding 
the  heights  with  his  departing  rays,  the  regimental  flags 
swung  out  in  the  breeze  on  the  top,  and  then  a  muffled 
shout,  like  the  far-off  murmur  of  the  sea,  came  down  to 


94  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

Grant.  Taken  up  by  division  after  division,  it  rolled 
gloriously  along  the  whole  line.  The  bloody  field  was 
won,  and  Bragg  in  full  retreat  All  next  day  he  was 
pursued  as  he  fled,  leaving  guns,  prisoners,  wagons,  and 
material  strung  along  his  path.  Over  seven  thousand 
prisoners  and  forty-seven  pieces  of  artillery  were  tlie 
fruits  of  the  victory. 

Having  chased  Bragg  to  Dalton,  he  then  turned  his 
attention  to  Longstreet,  who  was  laying  siege  to  Knox- 
ville.  Sherman  was  despatched  to  its  relief,  and  Long- 
street  was  compelled  to  raise  the  siege  and  retreat  toward 
Virginia. 

Never  was  a  more  skilfully-planned  battle,  or  one 
more  gallantly  fought.  The  victory  'was  a  clear  triumph 
of  military  genius,  and  steady,  determined  fighting. 
Bragg  was  fairly  and  openly  met  in  his  chosen  position, 
behind  his  defences,  on  heights  he  deemed  impregnable, 
and  utterly  routed. 

Grant  had  in  this  battle  an  Indian  chief  on  his  staff, 
and  the  grave  sachem  thus  describes  his  impressions  of 
the  General  during  the  successive  actions  :  "  It  has  been 
a  matter  of  universal  wonder  that  Gen.  Grant  was  not 
killed,  for  he  was  always  in  front,  and  perfectly  heedless 
of  the  storm  of  hissing  bullets  and  screaming  shells  flying 
around  him.  His  apparent  want  of  sensibility  does  not 
arise  from  heedlessness,  heartlessness,  or  vain  military 
affectation,  but  from  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  resting 
on  him  when  in  battle.  When  at  Ringgold,  we  rode  for 
a  half  a  mile  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  under  an  incessant 
fire  of  cannon  and  musketry ;  nor  did  we  ride  fast,  but 
on  an  ordinary  trot ;  and  not  once,  do  I  believe,  did  it 
enter  the  General's  mind  that  he  was  in  danger.  I  was 
by  his  side,  and  watched  him  closely.  In  riding  that  dis- 


BATTLE   OF    CHATTANOOGA.  95 

fcance,  we  were  going  to  the  front,  and  I  could  see  that  he 
was  studying  the  positions  of  the  two  armies,  and,  of 
course,  planning  how  to  defeat  the  enemy,  who  was  here 
making  a  desperate  stand,  and  slaughtering  our  men  fear- 
fully. Roads  (he  says)  are  almost  useless  to  him,  for  he 
takes  short  cuts  through  fields  and  woods,  and  will  swim 
his  horse  through  almost  any  stream  that  obstructs  his 
way.  Nor  does  it  make  any  difference  to  him  whether 
he  has  daylight  for  his  movements,  for  he  will  ride  from 
breakfast  until  two  o'clock  next  morning,  and  that,  too, 
without  eating.  The  next  day  he  will  repeat  the  same, 
until  he  has  finished  the  work." 

The  country  was  delirious  with  joy  at  this  great  vic- 
tory, and  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  day 
of  thanksgiving,  and  sent  the  following  letter  to  Grant  : 

WASHINGTON,  December  8th. 
Major-  General  Grant : 

Understanding  that  your  lodgment  at  Chattanooga  and  Knox- 
ville  is  now  secure,  I  wish  to  tender  you  and  all  under  your  com- 
mand my  more  than  thanks — my  profoundest  gratitude  for  the  skill, 
courage,  and  perseverance  with  which  you  and  they,  over  so  great 
difficulties,  have  effected  that  important  object.  God  bless  you  all. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Grant  issued  a  congratulatory  order  to  his  army,  in 
which,  at  the  close,  he  said  :  "  The  General  commanding 
thanks  you  individually  and  collectively.  The  loyal 
people  of  the  United  States  thank  and  bless  you.  Their 
hopes  and  prayers  for  your  success  against  this  unholy 
rebellion  are  with  you  daily.  Their  faith  in  you  will  not 
be  in  vain.  Their  hopes  will  not  be  blasted.  Their 
prayers  to  Almighty  God  will  be  answered.  You  will 
yet  go  to  other  fields  of  strife,  and  with  invincible  bra- 
very and  unflinching  loyalty  to  justice  and  right,  which 


96  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

have  characterized  you  in  the  past,  you  will  prove  that 
no  enemy  can  withstand  you,  and  that  no  defence,  how- 
ever formidable,  can  check  your  onward  march." 

Congress  voted  him  a  medal,  and  different  Legisla- 
tures passed  votes  of  thanks,  and  the  country  with  one 
voice  demanded  that  he  should  be  given  the  chief  com- 
mand of  all  the  armies.  A  bill  was  therefore  passed  by 
Congress,  creating  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  which 
had  been  conferred  as  an  honorary  title  on  Gen.  Scott ; 
and  soon  after  the  President  sent  in  Grant's  name  for 
the  office. 

In  the  mean  time  Grant  went  to  Nashville,  in  order 
to  visit  Knoxville  to  inspect  in  person  the  >  situation  of 
affairs  in  that  portion  of  his  department.  At  the  latter 
place  he  was  received  with  wild  enthusiasm  by  the  peo- 
ple, and,  in  accordance  with  the  universal  custom  of  the 
Americans,  a  speech  was  demanded  of  him.  But  he  in- 
formed them  that  he  never  made  a  speech,  and  knew 
nothing  about  it;  and  no  speech  was  got  out  of  him. 
Returning,  he  visited  St.  Louis  to  see  a  sick  child,  and 
while  there  a  public  dinner  was  given  him. 

His  nomination  for  the  position  of  lieutenant-general 
being  confirmed,  he  went  to  Washington  in  February  to 
assume  the  duties  of  his  high  office.  All  felt  that  a  new 
era  was  now  to  commence.  Congress,  in  creating  the 
rank,  confessed  that  it  had  interfered  quite  long  enough 
in  the  conduct  of  military  affairs,  and  thought  the  Cabi 
net  had  too.  The  Secretary  of  War  saw  in  it  that  the 
country  was  tired  of  his  management,  and  that  hereafter 
he  must  confine  himself  to  the  appropriate  duties  of  his 
department,  which  he  knew  so  well  how  to  perform. 
The  new  strategy  he  had  introduced,  "  to  move  imme- 
diately on  the  enemy's  works,"  had  had  its  full  and 


THE    PREPARATION.  97 

bloody  trial;  costing  the  country  probably  a  hundred 
thousand  men.  The  ruling  politicians  had  become 
alarmed.  Setting  out  with  the  determination  to  control 
the  war,  they  began  to  see  that  under  their  management 
the  country  would  soon  get  sick  of  it  altogether,  and  hence 
if  they  did  not  want  to  break  down  utterly,  they  must 
place  its  conduct  exclusively  in  military  hands.  There 
was  a  general  sentiment  that  they  dare  not  lay  hands  on 
Grant,  for  with  his  removal  there  seemed  nothing  but 
chaos  beyond. 

Grant  entered  on  his  high  duties  without  any  flourish 
of  trumpets  or  high-sounding  proclamations,  or  extrava- 
gant promises,  but  like  one  who  knew  thoroughly  the 
great  work  before  him;  and  at  once  addressed  himself  to 
its  accomplishment.  Sherman  was  given  the  vast  west- 
ern command  which  he  himself  had  held,  and  the  two 
were  to  move  together  at  the  appointed  time,  to  deal  the 
rebellion  its  death-blow.  Weary  months  now  passed 
away.  Spring  came  with  its  genial  weather  and  hard 
roads,  and  yet  Grant  did  not  move.  Still  no  murmurs . 
were  heard,  such  as  filled  the  land  when  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  first  remained  so  long  quiet  on  the  same  ground. 
The  country  had  had  enough  of  popular  campaigning,  and 
in  the  three  terrible  years  it  had  passed  through,  at  last 
learned  the  much-needed  lesson  of  patience.  The  "  On  to 
Richmond"  cry,  which  so  long  dazed  the  brains  of  many, 
was  no  more  heard.  It  was  plain  that  Grant  was  to  be 
let  alone,  and  in  that  lay  our  only  hope. 

But  though  everything  seemingly  continued  so  quiet 
around  Washington,  the  land  was  shaking  to  its  centre 
under  the  mighty  preparations  going  forward.  The  peo- 
ple did  not  know  of  it,  because  the  amazing  activity  was 
made  up  of  so  many  minor  movements,  each  one  of  which 


98  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

was  not  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  attract  notice.  But 
Grant  had  determined  that  when  he  gave  the  word  for 
the  mighty  host,  stretching  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Atlantic  to  move,  it  should  be  a  fair  test  between  the 
power  of  the  North  and  South — that  the  coming  strug- 
gle should  be  conclusive  and  final.  All  through  the 
early  spring,  the  countless  railroads  of  the  North  groaned 
tinder  the  weight  of  troops,  either  new  levies,  or  old  sol- 
diers returning  to  their  respective  regiments.  Transports 
loaded  with  ordnance  and  supplies  darkened  all  our  water 
courses.  The  great  thoroughfares  of  travel  and  commerce 
were  monopolized  by  the  Government,  and  he  who  could 
have  embraced  the  vast  North  at  that  time  with  a  single 
glance,  would  have  been  terrified  at  the  mighty  military 
preparations  going  on.  He  would  have  seen  that  a 
struggle  was  impending,  the  like  of  which  the  world  had 
never  seen. 

The  South,  through  its  spies,  was  aware  of  this,  and 
Davis  saw  that  the  coming  campaign  would  settle  the 
fate  of  the  Confederacy.  He  therefore  began  to  gather 
all  his  resources  for  the  decisive  struggle.  Neither  was 
the  navy  idle,  for  six  hundred  vessels  of  war  hung  like 
full-charged  thunder-clouds  around  the  rebel  fortifica- 
tions. 

Never,  since  the  time  of  the  first  Napoleon,  were  such 
vast  military  resources  placed  in  the  hand  of  one  man  as 
now  rested  in  that  of  Grant. 

Thus  the  month  of  April  passed,  and  the  waiting 
people  wondered  at  his  inaction.  But  by  the  first  of 
May  he  was  ready.  While  the  navy  was  to  strike  along 
the  coast  at  important  points,  the  two  armies,  one  east 
and  the  other  west,  were  to  move  simultaneously  forward 
— Sherman  with  Atlanta  as  his  objective  point,  and  Grant 


THE    GRAND   MOVEMENT.  99 

with  Richmond  for  his.  The  Alleghany  Mountains  di- 
vided them,  and  thousands  of  miles  intervened,  and  yet 
one  head  was  to  control  both.  When  everything  was 
ready,  the  two  armies  arose  from  their  long  inaction  and 
moved  forward.  The  great  bell  of  destiny,  hung  in  the 
blue  dome  of  heaven,  began  to  toll  the  knell  of  the  Con- 
federacy, and  the  solemn  sound  never  ceased,  till  its  hide- 
ous form  was  laid  in  its  deep,  dark  grave  forever. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    RICHMOND    CAMPAIGN. 

OHAEAOTEB  AND  PLAN  OP  THE  CAMPAIGN — THE  ARMY  CROSSES  THE  RAPIDAX 
— THE  THEEE  DAYS'  BATTLE  IN  THE  WILDEBNESS — LEE7S  EETEEAT  TO  SPOTT- 
6YLVANIA — BATTLES  BEFORE  IT — GRANT,  BY  A  FLANK  MOVEMENT,  MAECHEi 
TO  THE  NORTH  ANNA  RIVEE — MAKES  A  SECOND  FLANK  MOVEMENT  TO  THB 
PAMUNKEY — THE  CHICKAHOMINY — BATTLE  OF  COLD  HAEBOR — STRENGTH  OP 
THE  REBEL  WORKS — HE  MARCHES  TO  THE  JAMES  RIVEE — CROSSES  IT  AND 
ATTACKS  PETEBSBURG — IS  REPULSED — REVIEW  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN — SIEGB 
OF  RICHMOND — EARLY  SENT  TO  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SHENANDOAH — GOE» 

INTO  MARYLAND  AND  PENNSYLVANIA — THE  MINE  OF  BURNSIDE — GRANT 
DEFEATED  AT  HATCHER^  RUN — WINTER  QUARTERS— CAPTURE  OF  FORT 

FISHER  —  SHERMAN    ADVANCING DESPERATION  .OF    THE   REBELS  —  THEIE 

ATTEMPT  TO  TAKE  CITY  POINT  WITH  IRON-CLADS — NARROW  ESCAPE  OF 
GRANT'S  ARMY — ATTACK  ON  FORT  STEADMAN— »LAST  GREAT  MOVEMENT  OF 

THE  ARMY DESCRIPTION  OF — PETERSBURG  AND  RICHMOND  EVACUATED 

THE  RACE  FOR  LIFE  OF  THE  REBEL  ARMY — THE  SURRENDER — ACCOUNT  OJ 
IT — A  MOMENTOUS  SABBATH— SURRENDER  OF  JOHNSTON — COLLAPSE  OF  THB 
REBELLION — JOY  OF  THE  PEOPLE — ENTHUSIASM  FOB  GRANT — HIS  CHARACTER 

GRANT'S  campaign  differed  in  some  respects  materially 
from  that  of  Sherman,  for  while  the  latter  had  but  one 
line  of  communication  with  his  supplies,  and  that  length- 
ening as  he  advanced,  the  former  could  change  his  base  so 
as  to  keep  it  always  about  the  same  distance  from  his  army, 
or,  at  least,  never  very  remote.  Again,  the  former  was 
exposed  to  flank  attacks  on  either  side,  while  the  latter 
could  be  threatened  only  on  his  right,  and  that  by  the 
Shenandoah  valley,  which  a  moderate  force  could  protect. 


OUTLINE    OF    THE    CAMPAIGN.  101 

Grant  had  also  a  much  larger  army,  for  while  that  of 
Sherman  consisted  of  a  hundred  thousand  men,  the 
former  had  in  his  army  proper,  or  cooperating  with  him 
against  Richmond,  or  within  call,  probably  double  that 
number.  But  he  had  likewise  the  ablest  commander, 
and  the  grandest  army  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  to 
contend  against.  Besides,  Lee  was  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  country,  and  its  capacities  for  de- 
fence, and,  from  two  similar  campaigns  against  him,  had 
been  able  to  fix  definitely  upon  the  best  plan  to  defeat  a 
third.  He  was,  moreover,  to  act  almost  entirely  on  the 
defensive,  and  fight  behind  works ;  so  that,  though  vastly 
inferior  in  numbers,  not  having  probably  over  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  he  was  able  to  make  it  an  equal  contest 

Grant  probably  did  not  confine  himself  to  one  single 
mode  of  operations.  His  great  object  was,  whatever  in- 
termediate events  might  happen,  to  strike  Richmond  on 
the  north  side,  so  that  he  could  sweep  around  to  the 
west,  while  Butler  cut  it  off  from  the  south.  The 
movements  of  the  latter,  therefore,  were  to  corres- 
pond with  his.  Like  Burnside  and  Hooker,  he 
wished,  if  possible,  to  get  between  Lee  and  his  commu- 
nications, and  force  him  at  the  outset  to  a  decisive  battle. 
If  he  succeeded,  and  the  rebel  army  was  utterly  defeated, 
he  could  take  his  own  course  about  investing  Richmond. 
If  Lee  was  forced  to  retreat,  as  he  did  not  doubt  he  would 
be,  he  designed  to  follow  him  closely  to  the  rebel  capital, 
punishing  him  severely  at  every  step.  To  render  Lee^a 
rapid  escape  by  the  railroads  impossible,  he  sent  Sheridan 
on  a  raid  to  break  them  up.  Sigel  and  Couch,  in  the 
mean  time,  were  in  the  Shenandoah  valley,  protecting  his 
flank,  and  keeping  back  reinforcements  from  that  direc- 
tion. 


102  LIEUTENANT-GENEEAL   GKANT. 

With  this  general  outline  before  him,  Grant,  on  the 
night  of  the  3d  of  May,  broke  up  his  encampments,  and 
the  noble  Army  of  the  Potomac  moved  off  toward  the 
Rapidan.  The  next  morning  it  crossed  at  two  fords, 
Ely's  and  Germania,  some  five  or  six  miles  apart.  It 
was  divided  into  three  corps — the  Second,  commanded 
by  Hancock,  the  Fifth,  by  Warren,  and  the  Sixth,  by 
Sedgewick.  Hancock,  in  front,  crossed  at  Ely's  ford, 
followed  by  Warren,  while  Sedgewick  crossed  at  Ger- 
mania, forming  the  right.  Lee  did  not  dispute  the  pass- 
age of  the  stream,  but  fell  back,  so  as  to  protect  the 
entire  line  of  railroad  from  Gordonsville  to  Saxton's 
Junction.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  he  had  been 
taken  by  surprise,  but  this  was,  undoubtedly,  a  mistake. 
The  two  armies  had  confronted  each  other  too  long  at 
that  point,  not  to  have  it  well  understood  by  him  that 
a  crossing  would  be  attempted  in  that  neighborhood. 
He  seemed  to  think  that  a  more  successful  attack  could 
be  made  by  concentrating  a  heavy  force  on  the  separate 
corps  after  they  were  over,  and  while  in  process  of  reach- 
ing their  appointed  positions.  Carrying  out  this  plan,  he 
first  fell  on  Sedgewick,  who  had  crossed  alone,  and  was  in 
rear  of  the  other  two  corps.  If,  by  a  sudden,  onset,  he 
could  crush  him,  or  drive  him  into  the  river,  he  could 
sweep  down  the  banks  in  the  rear  of  the  other  two  corps, 
cutting  them  off  from  the  fords,  and  destroy  the  vast 
trains  not  yet  over. 

But  Grant  designed  neither  to  build  pontoon  bridges 
or  protect  fords  ;  he  had  crossed  without  any  intention  of 
returning.  ;/,. 

The  onslaught  upon  Sedgewick  was  terrific ;  but  the 
latter,  not  satisfied  with  bracing  himself  up  to  resist  it, 
boldly  advanced  to  meet  it.  Hurled  back,  Lee  came  on 


BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS.  103 

again  with  the  same  result.     Repulsed  here,  he  gathered 
up  his  bleeding  columns,  and,  quick  as  lightning,  poured 
them  into  the  gap  between  Hancock  and  Warren.     So 
unexpectetl  and  fierce  was  this  onset,  that  for  a  time  it 
threatened  to  be  successful.     Warren,  endeavoring  to  ad- 
vance, was  driven  back,  and  lost  two  guns.     The  troops, 
however,  rallied,  and  the  fight  raged  with  fearful  ferocity 
till  nine  o'clock,  long  after  darkness  had  closed  over  both 
armies.      The  next  morning  Lee  made  a  simultaneous 
attack   on   both  wings — Longstreet    advancing    against 
Hancock,  and  A.  P.  Hill  against  Sedgewick.     The  fight- 
ing, if  possible,  was  more  terrific  than  the  day  previous. 
Before  these  desperate  charges  our  whole  line  of  battle 
was  shaken  terribly.    In  various  parts  of  the  field  the  ranks 
were  often  th*rown  into  confusion,  and  once,  on  the  left, 
the  battle  seemed  lost.     Grant  was  standing  under  a  tree, 
smoking,  and  chipping  the  bark  with  his  knife,  when  the 
tidings  reached  him  that  the  left  was  broken.     "  I  don't 
believe  it ;"  was  his  quiet  reply.      Still,  it  was  nearly  true, 
and  would  have  been  wholly  so,  but  for  the  timely  arrival 
of  Burnside,  with  his  forty  or  fifty  thousand  men,  consti- 
tuting the  reserve.     This  bringing  up  the  whole  reserve 
into  action  so  early  in  the  campaign,  shows  that  Grant 
narrowly  escaped  the  disaster  that  overtook   Burnside 
and  Hooker  in  the  same  neighborhood. 

Burnside  had  made  a  forced  march  from  Manassas, 
and  on  this  eventful  morning,  with  Sedgewick,  whom 
Grant  had  with  great  forethought  brought  over  from  the 
right  during  the  night,  restored  the  battle.  That  such 
an  enormous  concentration  of  forces  was  needed  here, 
shows  how  well  Lee  had  laid  his  plans,  and  how,  under 
other  circumstances,  they  would  have  been  successful 
The  result  taught  himr  in  turn,  that  he  had  a  commander 


104  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

to  deal  with  that  would  give  him  all  he  wanted  to  do. 
The  next  day  no  general  engagement  took  place ;  but  the 
army  stood  in  order  of  battle,  and  skirmishes  and  lesser 
conflicts  were  constantly  occurring. 

This  ended  the  three  days1  fight  in  the  Wilderness — 
certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on  record.  Grant 
had  at  least  250  pieces  of  artillery ;  yet,  in  the  main,  they 
slept  idly  in  long  rows  under  the  trees,  wholly  useless  in 
this  strange  struggle,  in  which  the  contending  hosts 
could  see  each  other  only  as  they  came  in  contact. 

Although  the  mightiest  armies  that  had  ever  met  on 
this  continent  stood  up  in  a  great  pitched  battle,  to  one 
on' the  field  it  seemed  only  bushwhacking  through  a  forest 
seven  or  eight  miles  in  extent.  Grant  could  not  see  his 
army — he  could  only  hear  it.  The  incessant  volleys,  roar- 
ing away  on  either  side,  till  lost  in  the  distance,  told  of  a 
great  conflict ;  but  except  so  far  as  ordering  up  reinforce- 
ments and  responding  to  calls  for  help,  it  was  a  succession 
of  separate  conflicts.  Lee,  who  knew  all  the  roads 
through  this  tangled  wilderness,  had  greatly  the  advan- 
tage in  moving  his  troops  from  point  to  point,  and  thus 
could  more  easily  carry  out  his  object — viz.,  to  turn  one 
flank  or  the  other,  and  compel  Grant  to  fall  back  across 
the  Rapidan,  thus  repeating  over  again  Fredericksburg 
and  Chancellorsville.  He  fought  his  army  well,  and 
with  great  desperation ;  but  he  failed,  and  was  compelled 
finally  to  retreat. 

The  endurance  of  the  men,  on  both  sides,  was  won- 
derful. Portions  of  our  army  fought  and  stood  in  line 
of  battle  for  forty-eight  hours  continuously. 

Never  before  did  a  wilderness  present  such  a  spectacle. 
On  both  sides,  probably  nearly  30,000  men  had  fallen, 
and  though  the  wounded  were  gathered  together,  the  dead 


BATTLE   OF   SPOTTSYLVANIA.  105 

lay  everywhere ;  and  in  the  hurry  of  Lee's  retreat  and 
Grant's  pursuit,  those  who  were  buried  were  often  but 
half  interred,  and  arms  and  legs  protruded  from  the  loose 
soil  in  every  direction. 

As  Lee  retreated  towards  Spottsylvania,  Grant,  giv- 
ing his  troops  no  time  to  rest,  pressed  toward  the  same 
point  also,  hoping  to  get  there  first  and  head  off  his 
antagonist.  But  the  former  was  too  quick  for  him,  and 
Bartlett's  brigade  in  the  advance,  which  was  ordered  to 
attack  at  once  on  approaching  the  place — on  the  supposi- 
tion that  only  cavalry  would  be  found  there — ran  into 
Longstreet's  whole  corps,  and  was  fearfully  cut  up,  one 
of  his  regiments  losing  three  quarters  of  its  number  in 
fifteen  minutes.  Rawlinson's  division,  which  was  pushed 
forward  to  his  rescue,  also  broke  in  disorder,  when  War- 
ren, coming  up,  seized  the  division-flag  and  rallied  the 
troops  in  person,  and  held  the  ground  from  eight  o'clock 
till  noon.  Other  divisions  arriving  in  the  afternoon, 
the  contest  was  renewed  at  six  o'clock,  and  the  first  line 
of  breastworks  carried,  though  we  lost  1,500  men  in  doing 
it.  This  was  Sunday.  The  next  day  was  passed  in 
skirmishing  and  reconnoitring.  On  Tuesday,  Grant 
made^a  grand  attack  on  the  enemy's  position,  and  a  most 
terrific  conflict  followed.  Our  wearied  men  fought  as 
though  fresh  from  their  encampments.  Bayonet  charges 
occurred  in  various  parts  of  the  line,  and  the  roar  of 
artillery,  and  crash  of  musketry,  and  shouts  of  infuriated 
men,  conspired  to  make  that  evening  a  scene  of  terror  in- 
conceivable, indescribable.  The  carnage  was  awful ;  not 
less  than  eight  or  ten  thousand  men  falling  on  our  side 
alone.  We  took  some  1,200  prisoners;  but  the  attack 
failed,  and  the  decimated  columns  withdrew. 

But  neither  the  obstacles  which  Grant  met,  nor  the 


106  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

awful  slaughter  of  his  troops,  created  despondency  in  his 
heart.  On  the  contrary,  they  aroused  him  to  more  deter* 
mined  efforts,  and  he  telegraphed  back — u  I  will  fight  it 
out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer."  Reinforcements 
were  hurried  on  to  him,  and  the  garrisons  around  Wash- 
ington almost  emptied  to  replace  his  fearful  losses. 
The  Secretary  of  War  dared  no  longer  interfere  as  he 
did  with  McClellan,  and  keep  back  troops  to  protect  the 
capital.  Grant  demanded  them,  and  they  were  sent  for- 
ward. 

The  latter  now  changed  his  base  of  supplies  to  Fred- 
ericksburg,  while  his  army  lay  around  Spottsylvania 
for  two  weeks,  striving  in  vain  to  find  a  weak  point  in 
the  enemy's  position,  or  to  overlap  his  right  wing.  Every 
day,  the  roar  of  artillery  shook  the  earth,  and  terrible 
assaults  on  both  sides  strewed  the  ground  with  the  dead. 
Heavy  rains  and  fogs  set  in  ;  but  still  the  work  of  death 
went  on.  We  gained  some  successes — Hancock,  in  his  bril- 
liant charge,  taking  some  5,000  prisoners ;  but  it  placed 
the  army  no  nearer  success,  and  at  length  Grant  gave  it  up, 
and  resolved  on  a  flank  movement.  It  was  hard  to  come 
to  this,  for  he  did  not  want  to  force  Lee  to  a  retreat,  but 
to  a  decisive  battle  while  far  from  his  base,  and  with  his 
lines  of  communication  cut  by  Sheridan,  who  was  mak- 
ing havoc  with  the  rebel  cavalry.  Besides,  he  did  not 
wish  to  swing  round  in  front  of  the  Richmond  works, 
from  which  McClelland  army  had  been  driven  two 
years  before ;  but  follow  the  rebel  leader  straight  into  the 
capital  from  the  north.  Kautz  had  cut  the  railroad  be- 
low Petersburg,  and  Butler,  who  was  occupying  Ber- 
muda Hundreds,  had  destroyed  it  between  that  place  and 
Richmond,  and  if  he  himself  could  come  down  on  the  city 
from  the  north,  its  fate  would  be  sealed.  Still,  no  other 


A   FLANK   MOVEMENT.  107 

resource  was  left  him.  So,  on  Friday  night,  Hancock 
moved  off  to  the  eastward,  and  the  next  night  was  at 
Bowling  Green,  seventeen  miles  from  Spottsylvania.  Lee, 
however,  made  aware  of  the  movement,  started  off  Long- 
street's  corps  the  same  night,  and  a  race  between  the  two 
armies  commenced.  The  Fifth  Corps,  Warren's,  fol- 
lowed on  Saturday  morning,  and  about  the  same  time 
Ewell  also  started ;  and  so,  corps  after  corps  succeeded, 
until  Spottsylvania  was  deserted.  The  North  Anna 
river  was  the  goal  both  were  aiming  at.  If  Grant  could 
reach  it  first,  he  would  even  yet  force  Lee  to  the  de- 
cisive battle  he  was  straining  every  nerve  to  bring 
about. 

Hancock,  who  had  the  left,  struck  the  river  about  a 
mile  west  of  where  the  Fredericksburg  and  Richmond 
railroad  crosses  it.  Warren,  on  the  right,  struck  it  four 
miles  farther  up  at  the  Jericho  ford.  His  advance  divi- 
sion, Griffin's,  reached  it  a  little  after  midnight  on  Mon- 
day, May  the  23d,  and  immediately  plunged  into  the 
stream,  flowing  waist  deep,  and  stumbling  in  the  darkness 
over  its  rocky  bed,  crossed  without  opposition. 

Hancock,  on  reaching  the  bridge  over  which  he  was 
to  cross,  found  the  enemy  in  force,  and  had  to  carry  a 
tete  du  pont  and  a  fort  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  which 
he  did  in  gallant  style.  Once  over,  he  met  but  little  op- 
position, while  Warren  had  to  fight  his  way  onward.  It 
was  now  ascertained  that  the  rebels,  who  had  got  the 
start,  held  the  South  Anna,  which  had  been  fortified, 
apparently  for  just  such  a  contingency  as  this. 

Grant,  seeing  that  the  position  could  not  be  forced,  at 
least  not  without  a  loss  that  would  make  it  no  victory, 
made  another  flank  movement,  and  swung  his  army 
around  to  the  Pamunkey,  and  on  the  last  day  of  May, 


108  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

pitched  his  headquarters  near  Hanover  Court  House,  the 
spot  where,  two  years  before,  rested  the  extreme  right  of 
McClellan's  lines. 

The  manner  in  which  he  handled  his  immense  army 
in  these  flanking  operations,  showed  a  military  ability  far 
above  that  which  often  wins  a  great  battle.  It  seemed  to 
be  a  single  machine  in  his  hand,  which  he  worked  with 
consummate  skill,  and  apparently  without  effort. 

Throwing  his  army  across  the  Painunkey,  he  ad- 
vanced to  the  Chickahominy,  while  he  ^transferred  his 
base  to  the  White  House,  from  which  General  W.  F. 
Smith,  with  the  Tenth  and  part  of  the  Eighteenth  corps, 
joined  him. 

The  rebels  had  learned  wisdom  from  the  lesson  taught 
them  by  McClellan  two  years  before,  when  the  Chicka- 
hominy was  crossed  without  opposition ;  for  now  its  banks 
bristled  with  fortifications.  In  attempting  to  force  its 
passage,  occurred  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  After  a 
determined  but  unsuccessful  assault  and  a  bloody  repulse, 
Grant,  impassible  as  ever,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
along  the  lines  to  ascertain  from  the  different  command- 
ers the  actual  state  of  things  in  their  immediate  front. 
He  returned  leisurely,  absorbed  in  thought,  and  it  was 
evident  that  the  attempt  would  not  be  renewed.  He  was 
now  on  the  line  of  McClellan's  peninsular  campaign,  with 
a  much  larger  army,  but  with  difficulties  tenfold  greater 
to  contend  with.  A  deep  river,  strongly  fortified,  lay 
before  him,  and  beyond  it,  five  miles  of  earthworks 
stretched  to  the  rebel  capital.  It  was  plain  the  army 
never  could  travel  that  road  to  Hichmond.  It  lay  here, 
however,  for  nearly  ten  days,  and  another  July  in  the 
deadly  Chickahominy  swamps  seemed  inevitable.  But 
Grant,  with  all  his  obstinacy  and  tenacity  of  purpose, 


MARCH   TO   THE   JAMES    RIVER.  109 

never  exhibits  these  qualities  in  the  mode  of  reaching  his 
object.  The  moment  events  show  that  one  plan  is  no 
longer  feasible,  he  instantly  drops  it  and  adopts  another. 
He  clings  to  his  main  object  with  the  grip  of  death,  but 
cares  little  for  the  mode  of  securing  it.  Seeing,  there- 
fore, that  Richmond  could  not  be  reached  by  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  he  determined  by  a  sudden  movement  to  fling 
his  army  over  the  James  river,  and  seize  Petersburg, 
which  Butler  had  failed  to  take,  laying  the  blame  of 
defeat  on  Gilmore. 

This,  however,  was  a  delicate  operation,  for  the  op- 
posing lines  were  so  close  that  it  was  hardly  to  be  ex- 
pected that  he  could  move  off,  unobserved,  such  an  im- 
mense army,  without  exposing  himself  to  a  sudden  attack. 
But  concentrating  his  lines  till  his  front  was  not  more 
than  four  miles  long — making  it  almost  as  deep  back — and 
throwing  up  strong  works  to  protect  his  flanks,  he,  on 
Sunday  night,  the  12th  of  June,  quietly  and  swiftly 
changed  front  and  marched  away  from  the  Chickahominy. 
Smith's  corps  moved  off  to  the  White  House  and  em- 
barked on  transports,  while  the  rest  of  the  army  struck 
across  the  country  to  the  James  river,  fifty  miles  away. 
Passing  below  the  White  Oak  Swamp,  stirring  recollec- 
tions were  brought  to  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  which 
two  years  before  fought  their  way  on  almost  the  same 
line  to  the  point  toward  which  they  were  now  pressing. 

Grant  broke  up  his  camp  and  sent  off  all  his  iiilmense 
trains  on  the  12th.  Two  days  after,  on  the  14th,  Hancock 
was  crossing  the  James  by  ferry  at  Wilcox  Landing,  and 
the  Sixth  corps  by  ferry  and  a  pontoon  bridge  a  little 
lower  down.  When  Lee  found  Grant  gone  from  his  front, 
he  evidently  expected  he  would  strike  for  Malvern  Hill, 
and  from  that  point  march  on  Richmond  ;  but  the 


110  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

thunder  of  his  guns  as  he  advanced  against  Petersburg  dis- 
pelled this  illusion.  Grant  expected  to  take  Petersburg 
by  this  sudden  movement,  and  thus  advance  his  lines 
nearer  to  Richmond  on  the  south  side.  The  .attack  was 
at  first  successful  and  the  outer  works  captured,  and  the 
report  flew  over  the  land  that  it  had  fallen.  It  ought  to 
have  been  so,  and  would  have  been  but  for  a  mistake  for 
which  Grant  was  not  responsible.  At  the  same  time  that 
our  assaulting  columns  moved  against  the  place  in  front, 
Butler  advanced  once  more  to  the  railroad  connecting  it 
with  Richmond,  and  from  which  he  had  previously  been 
driven.  He  reached  the  track  and  tore  it  up ;  but  the 
rebels  no  sooner  found  our  army  repulsed  before  Peters- 
burg, than  they  sent  a  strong  force  against  him,  and  driv- 
ing him  back,  repaired  the  road. 

Grant  now  had  apparently  played  his  last  card  and 
failed.  The  most  terrific  campaign  on  record  had  ended, 
and  a  long  siege,  of  nearly  a  year's  duration,  was  to  com- 
mence. He  had  fought  his  way,  inch  by  inch,  from  the 
Rapidan  to  the  James,  yet  never  gained  a  substantial 
victory.  Every  battle  had  been  a  drawn  one,  and  he  had 
lost  probably  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  hundred  thousand 
men,  while  he  had  not  weakened  the  enemy  by  more 
than  half  that  number.*  The  latter,  after  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness,  fought  always  behind  breastworks,  where 

*  No  reports  of  the  losses  in  these  various  battles  were  published,  and,  so 
far  as  we  know,  complete  ones  at  the  time  were  not  sent  in  to  the  Govern- 
ment. The  above  estimate  is  based  on  the  report  of  one  corps  made  to  the 
Government  at  Spottsylvania.  If  the  reports  were  not  made  till  after  time 
was  given  for  stragglers  and  the  sick  and  the  slightly  wounded  to  return, 
of  course  the  sum-total  will  not  be  much  more  than  half  the  above  estimate. 
But  we  are  convinced  that  if  the  missing  from  the  muster-rolls  after  each 
battle  were  added  up,  the  aggregate  would  reach  very  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
this  frightful  number.  The  War  Department  makes  the  total  loss  to  the 
close  90,000. 


KEVIEW    OF    THE    CAMPAIGN.  Ill 

their  losses  should  not  have  been,  by  ordinary  rules, 
more  than  one  to  three.  The  friends  of  McClellan 
pointed  to  this  result,  and  exclaimed  exultingly,  "l?o« 
see  that  McClellan  was  right,  and  the  Administration  j 
wrong,  when  he  remonstrated  against  removing  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  from  the  James,  and  it  would  not 
listen  to  him." 

No  man  of  sense  doubts  this  now.  Events  have  proved 
that  General  Scott  was  right  when  he  said,  "  The  great, 
the  vital  mistake  which  the  Government  has  made  dur- 
ing this  war  was  to  recall  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from 
the  Peninsula."  The  removal  of  its  commander  was  one 
thing,  and  that  of  the  army  was  quite  another.  One  did 
not  necessitate  the  other.  They  said  also,  and  the  Rich- 
mond papers  reiterated  it,  that  Grant  could  have  placed 
his  army  on  the  spot  it  now  occupied  without  the  loss  of 
a  man,  while,  by  the  way  he  came,  a  vast  army  had  dis- 
appeared. That  was  equally  true,  but  the  inference  they 
drew  from  these  indisputable  facts  was  not  true,  viz.,  that 
Grant  should  have  taken  his  army  by  water,  as  McClellan 
did,  to  the  Peninsula.  The  first  movement  was  a  bril- 
liant one,  and  should  have  been  sustained,  but  results 
have  shown  that  had  Grant  imitated  it,  he  would  have- 
committed  a  fatal  blunder.  When,  two  years  before,  the- 
Army  of  the  Potomac  lay  there,  Richmond  was  so  poorly 
fortified  in  that  direction,  that  Lee  dared  not  spare  a  man 
from  his  army  to  operate  elsewhere,  so  that,  as  McClellan' 
said,  Washington  was  best  defended  at  Richmond.  But 
that  was  not  so  now.  The  rebel  government  had  profited 
by  experience,  and  thrown  up  such  impregnable  works 
around  its  capital  in  this  direction,  that  a  few  men  com- 
paratively could  hold  them  against  a  large  army.  Grant 
was  constantly  reinforced,  so  that  when  he  sat  down  in  siege 


112  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

before  Petersburg,  he,  doubtless,  had  as  large  an  army 
as  the  one  with  which  he  set  out.  Yet  Lee  felt  so  strong 
that  he  immediately  despatched  an  army,  twenty  thousand 
strong,  into  the  valley  of  th^  Shenandoah,  which  gathered 
its  harvests,  and  then  crossing  into  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania, burned  Chambersburg,  cut  the  railroad  north 
of  Baltimore,  and  advanced  to  the  very  gates  of  the  na- 
tional capital.  It  spread  consternation  on  every  side, 
and  although  the  Nineteenth  Corps  opportunely  arrived 
from  New  Orleans,  it  was  not  .considered  strong  enough, 
with  all  the  forces  that  could  be  raised  in  the  vicinity,  to 
cope  with  the  rebels,  and  the  veteran  Sixth  Corps  had  to 
be  detached  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  sent  to 
protect  Washington  and  the  neighboring  loyal  country. 

Now  suppose  that  Lee  lost  only  forty  or  fifty  thou- 
sand men  to  our  one  hundred  thousand  in  the  march 
from  the  Kapidan  to  the  James,  and  suppose  further, 
that  Grant  had  carried  his  army  intact  by  transports  to 
the  James,  just  as  strong  and  no  stronger  than  it  actually 
was  when  it  reached  there,  and  Lee  had  these  forty  or 
fifty  thousand  men  that  lay  in  hospitals,  or  strewing  the 
battle-fields  on  the  line  of  his  retreat,  to  add  to  the 
twenty  thousand  he  actually  sent  to  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah,  swelling  the  force  to  sixty  or  seventy  thou- 
sand men,  who  does  not  see  that  the  siege  of  Richmond 
must  have  been  raised,  and  the  whole  campaign  gone 
over  again  ?  It  requires  but  the  simplest  arithmetical 
calculation  to  determine,  if  twenty  thousand  men  de- 
manded the  presence  of  two  additional  corps  in  front  of 
Washington,  how  many  corps  would  sixty  or  seventy 
thousand  men  have  required.  Those  dead  and  wounded 
of  Lee's  army,  that  cost  us  so  heavily,  were,  in  the  crisis 
of  affairs,  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of 


REVIEW    OF   THE    CAMPAIGN.  113 

the  siege  of  Richmond.  Lee  could  not  replace  them— 
we  could  and  did  replace  our  losses.  This  statement  is 
not  a  theory,  but  a  conclusion  proved  by  after  events. 
Grant  was  not  responsible  for  the.  extraordinary  state  in 
which  he  found  things  when  he  took  chief  command. 
After  three  years  of  war,  he  found  the  rebels  menacing 
our  capital,  instead  of  we  theirs.  This,  it  was  plain,  had 
got  to  be  reversed,  or  the  war  would  never  end,  except  in 
our  defeat.  The  blunders  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  of 
the  former  General-in-chief  had  brought  about  this  dis- 
graceful condition  of  affairs,  at  the  cost  of  two  armies. 
Grant  saw  at  once  it  could  not  be  reversed,  without  a 
terrible  sacrifice  of  life,  and  he  boldly  resolved  to  make 
it. .  The  clear,  correct,  straightforward  view  he  took  of 
the  whole  matter,  shows  his  great  qualities,  more  than 
any  battle  he  ever  won.  The  English  press,  in  view  of 
the  terrible  loss  of  life  that  marked  this  apparently  fruit- 
less campaign,  stigmatized  him  as  the  great  butcher,  but 
subsequent  events  have  shown  that  his  course  saved 
human  life  in  the  end — in  fact  was  the  only  wise  one  to 
pursue.  Indeed,  we  believe  our  own  countrymen  make 
a  mistake  here;  they  seem  to  think  that  Grant,  having 
started  for  Richmond  on  the  route  he  did,  pursued  it 
from  mere  obstinacy  of  purpose ;  that  it  was  the  tenacity 
of  the  sleuthhound  once  settled  on  the  track,  rather  than 
the  stern  conviction  that  he  had  chosen  the  only  wise 
course,  which  impelled  him  on.  Hence  they  take  his. 
despatch,  "I  will  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  take  all 
summer,"  as  simply  an  evidence  of  pluck,  which  is  a 
quality  greatly  admired  by  Americans.  It  showed  his 
pluck  unquestionably,  but  it  is  unjust  to  suppose  that 
this  was  the  utterance  of  mere  pluck ;  it  was  also  a 
declaration  that  he  believed  he  had  chosen  the  right 


114  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

course — notwithstanding  he  had  not  succeeded  in  anni 
hilating  Lee's  army — and  meant  to  pursue  it,  cost  what  it 
would.  It  was,  in  short,  a  simple  reaffirmation  of  judg- 
ment— a  judgment  at  first  made  after  mature  deliberation, 
and  now  on  a  careful  review,  in  the  light  of  events,  be- 
lieved to  be  correct.  He  knew  he  was  right,  and  that 
being  settled,  he  would  fight  it  out  on  that  line  as  long 
as  he  had  men  to  fight  with.  He  is,  doubtless,  an  obsti- 
nate man,  but  never  will  stick  to  a  thing,  right  or 
wrong,  simply  because  he  has  begun  it.  His  mind  is 
too  well  balanced,  and  his  character  built  on  too  lofty  a 
model,  to  allow  him  to  do  that.  In  the  light  of  after 
events,  his  prescience  in  the  matter  appears  to  us  wonder- 
ful. His  forecast  seemed  to  embrace  all  contingencies, 
and  select  the  right  thing  under  any  circumstances. 

Grant  had  now  a  difficult  problem  to  solve.  If  he 
should  take  Petersburg,  or  rather  the  line  of 'works  that 
commanded  it  by  regular  approaches,  similar  works 
around  Richmond,  twenty  miles  off,  confronted  him  ;  if  he 
operated  against  Richmond  directly  from  the  north  side 
of  the  James,  he  would  have  ten  or  fifteen  miles  of  in- 
trenchments  to  traverse,  and  then,  if  he  compelled  the 
evacuation  of  the  rebel  capital,  it  would  be  comparatively 
a  barren  conquest,  if  all  the  lines  of  communication  South 
were  open.  The  great  thing,  therefore,  was  first  to  cut 
these  lines ;  but  the  invasion  of  Maryland  by  Early,  and  the 
necessary,  withdrawal  of  one  of  his  corps,  and  the  diver- 
sion of  reinforcements  to  Washington,  so  weakened  him, 
that  he  could  not  spare  the  force  necessary  for  such  an 
enterprise.  Still,  he  did  what  he  could.  The  Second 
Corps  made  an  advance  on  the  22d,  but  was  repulsed,, 
losing  1,600  men  and  four  guns ;  but  a  brilliant  movement 
subsequently,  north  of  the  James,  gave  him  possession 


SPRINGING   OF   A   MINE.  115 

of  an  advantageous  position.  He  was  never  at  rest ;  and 
Lee  must  have  been  amazed  at  the  mental  activity  and  re- 
sources of  his  adversary.  He  would  not  give  him  a  mo- 
ment's repose.  The  rebel  chieftain  could  never  discover 
in  the  atmosphere  around  him  any  signs  of  the  coming 
storm.  From  that  part  of  the  heavens  where  not  a  cloud 
could  be  seen,  and  all  was  serene  and  clear,  the  thunder- 
bolt was  more  likely  to  burst  than  from  any  other  quarter. 
The  stiller  the  day,  the  more  sure  the  hurricane.  Instead  of 
forcing  Grant  to  take  his  army  back  to  Washington,  Lee 
found  himself  so  fiercely  pushed  at  all  points,  that  he 
could  not  spare  the  reinforcements  that  Early  so  greatly 
needed. 

During  the  summer,  a  mine  was  run  under  one  of  the 
advanced  forts  of  the  enemy,  which,  if  once  destroyed,  it 
was  thought  that  we  could  get  possession  of  a  command- 
ing ridge.  The  workmen  were  engaged  for  more  than  a 
month  in  digging  this  mine,  and  so  noiselessly  and  se- 
cretly was  it  done,  that  the  enemy  never  discovered  it. 
An  enormous  quantity  of  powder  was  lodged  in  it,  and  on 
the  day  it  was  to  be  exploded,  Grant  sent  a  force  across 
the  James,  with  an  immense  army  train,  to  deceive  Lee 
into  the  belief  that  an  attack  was  meditated  on  that  ex- 
tremity of  his  lines.  The  ruse  succeeded,  and  a  large 
rebel  force  was  despatched  to  resist  the  anticipated  attack. 
In  the  meantime,  the  assaulting  columns  were  mar- 
shalled, and  the  mine  exploded.  The  fort  rose  in  the  air ; 
a  huge  crater  opened  in  the  earth,  into  which  the  ap- 
palled garrison  sunk ;  the  storming  columns  rushed  into 
the  gorge,  and  for  a  moment  success  seemed  certain.  But 
delays  in  the  supports  gave  the  rebels  time  to  rally ;  the 
colored  troops,  that  were  foolishly  sent  in,  broke  in  con- 
fusion ;  everything  was  thrown  into  disorder,  and  the 


116  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

whole  affair  proved  worse  than  a  miserable  failure,  for  we 
lost  nearly  5,000  men,  and  gained  nothing.  The  rebels 
lost  but  little  over  a  thousand.  Burnside,  who  had  charge 

'  O 

of  the  mine  and  the  arrangements  for  the  assault,  was  so 
severely  censured,  that  he  asked  to  be  relieved  from  his 
command.  Some  blamed  Meade,  and  some  Grant,  for  not 
taking  the  entire  control  of  so  important  a  matter  into 
their  own  hands.  One  thing  is  certain,  neither  should 
ever  have  allowed  the  colored  troops,  nor  any  other  equally 
raw  ones,  to  be  selected  for  such  an  enterprise.  None 
but  the  most  veteran,  tried,  intelligent  regiments,  should 
have  been  permitted  to  undertake  so  hazardous  a  task. 
The  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  "War  investigated 
the  matter  ;  but  the  result,  like  all  its  investigations, 
only  beclouded  the  truth.  Its  sessions  had  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  great  farce  by  the  whole  country. 

The  total  defeat  of  Early  by  Sheridan  in  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  in  the  autumn,  released  the  pressure  on 
Grant  from  Washington,  and  he  once  more  turned  his 
attention  to  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's  communica- 
tions. 

Hence,  on  the  27th  of  October,  the  camp  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was  broken  up,  four  days1  rations  issued, 
the  sick  and  camp  equipage  sent  to  City  Point,  and  the 
army  marched  to  the  westward  and  southwestward  for 
Hatcher's  Run,  which  was  known  to  be  strongly  fortified, 
and  which  constituted  the  extreme  right  of  the  rebel  lines. 
The  object  was  to  turn  the  enemy's  right  flank,  seize  the 
forts,  and  thus  having  gained  the  rear,  move  rapidly  across 
to  the  Southside  Railroad.  The  Second  Corps  crossed  the 
run  and  moved  upon  the  opposing  works ;  but  the  Fifth, 
not  being  able  to  come  up  and  form  a  junction  at  the  right 
time,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  the  rebel  General 


CAPTURE    OF   FORT    FISHER.  117 

sent  a  division  into  the  gap,  struck  right  and  left,  capturing 
guns  and  provisions,  and  driving  back  both  corps  with 
great  loss,  and  the  whole  army  was  withdrawn.  The 
matter  was  made  light  of  at  the  time ;  but  it  was  a  sad 
failure. 

The  army  now  went  into  winter  quarters,  and  with 
the  exception  of  some  cavalry  raids  on  the  Weldon  and 
other  railroads,  little  of  interest  transpired.  Sherman  was 
moving  across  Georgia,  and  his  advent  on  the  sea-coast 
was  waited  with  intense  anxiety. 

The  great  event  of  the  winter,  in  connection  with 
Grant,  was  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  which  protected 
the  entrance  to  "Wilmington — the  chief  resort  of  blockade- 
runners.  Butler  had  been  sent  to  take  it  in  December; 
but  came  back  and  reported  that  it  could  not  be  done, 
and  the  attempt  would  be  a  useless  sacrifice  of  life.  Grant 
did  not  send  him  on  a  reconnoissance  to  report,  but  to  take 
the  place  ;  and  incensed  at  the  miserable  abortion  which 
he  had  made  of  the  whole  affair,  removed  him  and  sent 
him  to  Lowell,  to  finish  with  his  own  suicidal  hand  a  re- 
putation, bad  enough  at  best,  and  good  only  in  the  eyes 
of  those  whose  love  of  revenge  and  cruelty,  for  the  time 
being,  overrode  their  judgment  General  Terry  was  ap- 
pointed in  his  place,  and  with  the  same  troops,  only 
slightly  increased  in  number,  in  conjunction  with  Admi- 
ral Porter,  gallantly  stormed  and  took  it. 

The  heavens  were  growing  black  around  Lee  and 
Davis  ;  for  by  the  middle  of  this  month,  Sherman  had 
commenced  his  northward  march  from  Savannah,  and 
soon  they  might  expect  the  heads  of  his  columns  in  North 
Carolina.  Something  must  .be  done,  and  that  quickly  ; 
for  though  Grant  had  thus  far  been  foiled  in  every  at- 
tempt to  seize  Richmond,  a  new  foe  was  fast  coming  on 


118  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

the  field.  From  Fort  Harrison,  north  of  the  James,  to 
Hatcher's  Run,  on  the  south,  our  lines  stretched  for  nearly 
thirty  miles,  from  every  portion  of  which  Grant  had  made 
demonstrations  against  the  rebel  works  in  vain ;  and  though 
another  year  might  be  wasted  in  the  same  fruitless  siege, 
the  gathering  of  armies  on  the  south  would,  in  time, 
make  his  success  certain. 

The  first  desperate  attempt  to  relieve  himself  was  made 
by  Lee  on  the  24th  of  January,  when  three  iron-clads 
and  three  wooden  vessels,  with  a  flotilla  of  torpedo-boats, 
came  down  the  James  river,  intending  to  run  the  bat- 
teries, take  City  Point,  and  thus  cut  off  the  base  of  sup- 
plies for  the  whole  army,  and  divide  the  forces  north  and 
south  of  the  James.  A  large  rebel  force  was  massed  north 
of  the  river  to  make  an  overwhelming  assault  on  the  army 
there,  as  soon  as  City  Point  was  reached.  A  high  tower, 
erected  at  the  latter  place  for  observation  by  Grant,  was  to 
be  set  on  fire  as  a  signal  of  success,  and  at  the  same  time,  of 
attack.  The  vessels  came  boldly  down  in  the  darkness, 
and  it  was  soon  evident  that  we  had  nothing  on  shore  or 
in  the  river  that  could  stop  their  progress,  and  consterna- 
tion seized  our  army  along  the  banks.  Most  of  our  gun- 
boats were  away  with  Porter,  and  the  Onondaga,  on 
guard,  retreated  down  the  river  without  attempting  a  de- 
fence. By  good  fortune,  or  rather  through  an  over- rul- 
ing Providence,  the  iron-clads  ran  aground,  and  were 
stopped  midway  in  their  triumphant  career.  The  country 
did  not  know  what  a  narrow  escape  Grant  and  his  army 
ran,  but  the  Government  did.  On  the  committee  of  in- 
vestigation which  was  appointed,  the  universal  testimony 
was,  that  if  these  vessels  had  not  got  aground,  the  siege 
of  Richmond  would  have  been  raised,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  disasters  that  might  have  befallen  the  army.  City 


ALMOST   A   DISASTER.  119, 

Point  once  occupied  by  the  rebels,  not  a  pound  of  food 
could  have  reached  our  troops.  Grant  alone  testified 
that  he  did  not  think  the  disaster  would  have  been  irre- 
parable, and  he,  only  on  the  single  ground  that  he  had 
provisions  enough  on  hand  to  last,  with  great  economy, 
two  weeks,  and  by  the  end  of  that  time  he  thought  the 
Government  would  have  been  able  to  re-open  his  com- 
munications. On  the  probable  success  of  outside  efforts 
alone,  he  testified  that  he  relied  for  salvation.  What 
fearful  issues  hung  on  the  simple  question,  whether  those 
three  iron-clads  should  clear  the  shoals.  A  few  more 
feet  of  water,  a  few  more  moments  of  safety,  and  Grant's 
disaster  before  Richmond  would  have  eclipsed  all  that 
had  gone  before,  in  the  way  of  misfortune.  Heaven  be 
praised  for  its  interference  in  our  behalf  on  that  dark 
night ! 

But,  as  the  winter  drew  to  a  close,  events  thickened 
rapidly.  Wilmington  fell ;  Schofield  had  pushed  up 
the  Neuse  to  Kinston ;  Charleston  was  evacuated,  and 
Sherman's  columns  were  well  up  toward  the  North  Car- 
olina border  ;  Sheridan  with  his  15,000  men  was  on  his 
triumphant  march  down  to  the  James,  burning  and  des- 
troying, and  sending  terror  into  the  heart  of  Richmond. 
Unable  to  cross  the  river  and  cut  the  railroad  south 
of  it,  and  so  keep  on  in  that  direction  to  Grant's  left 
wing,  he  destroyed  the  James  River  canal,  and  sweeping 
down,  crossed  the  country  north  of  the  rebel  capital,  and 
reached  tfye  White  House  in  safety.  Before  he  joined 
Grant's  army  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  (March),  Lee, 
now  thoroughly  alarmed,  made  another  desperate  effort 
to  rend  asunder  the  coils  that  were  tightening  around 
him.  Just  before  daylight,  on  the  25th,  he  made  a  sud- 
den and  successful  assault  on  Fort  Steadman,  intending 


120  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

to  cut  through  Grant's  lines,  roll  up  the  army,  and  per- 
haps keep  on  to  City  Point,  and  so  raise  the  siege  of 
Richmond.  Our  lines  at  this  point  were  so  near  to  the 
rebels,  that  the  two  hostile  columns  organized  for  the 
attack,  were  upon  us  before  we  were  aware  of  their  inten- 
tions. The  first  column  cut  a  gap  in  the  abattis,  stormed 
through,  and  with  a  single  bound  leaped  into  the  fort. 
Three  of  the  five  batteries  that  surrounded  it  were  at  once 
turned  upon  our  flying  troops.  The  second  column  in 
the  mean  time  prepared  to  charge,  through  to  the  rear. 
But  this  fort  was  flanked  by  Fort  McGivry  on  the  one  side 
and  Forts  Hascall  and  Morton  on  the  other,  which  at 
once  poured  a  storm  of  shot  into  the  captured  works. 
Shattered  and  torn,  the  victors  could  not  all  get  back 
through  the  gaps  they  had  made ;  and  in  the  mean  time 
Hartranft  was  upon  them,  and  the,  whole  remainder,  2,000 
strong,  captured.  Humphreys  of  the  Second  corps,  still 
farther  to  the  left,  hearing  the  uproar  through  the  morn- 
ing air,  and  thinking  the  line  in  his  front  must  have  been 
weakened  in  order  to  strengthen  the  attack  on  Steaclman, 
suddenly  advanced,  breaking  the  rebel  lines  and  taking 
many  prisoners.  The  sudden  success  turns  into  a  disas- 
ter, and  Lee  has  evidently  played  his  last  card.  Grant 
thinks  so  too,  and  at  once  prepares  to  move.  Two  days 
after,  Sheridan  joined  him,  and  was  immediately  sent  to 
the  left. 

To  a  general  understanding  of  the  grand  movements 
that  follow,  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that,  the  rebel 
right  rested  on  the  Weldon  Railroad,  near  Hatcher's  and 
Gravelly  Run.  At  the  point  where  the  works  touched  it, 
two  roads  stretched  off,  the  Boynton  plank  road,  run- 
ning southwesterly  to  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  eighteen  miles  from  Petersburg.  The 


THE    FINAL    MOVEMENT.  121. 

other  road,  White  Oak',  ran  back  directly  west,  to 
the  Five  Forks,  where  five  roads  meet,  three  of  them 
running  straight  to  the  Southside  Railroad,  the  only  one 
by  which  Lee  could  escape  to  Danville,  and  so  south. 

The  Boynton  plank  road  to  Dinwiddie  Court  House 
was  held  by  the  rebels — in  fact  might  be  called  the  outer 
line  guarding  the  Southside  Railroad.  But  Grant's  plans 
being  all  matured,  and  Sheridan  having  arrived,  he  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  put  them  into  execution.  The  Ninth 
.corps  confronted  Petersburg;  the  Sixth  and  Twenty- 
fourth  came  next  on  the  left,  then  the  Second  corps,  and 
last  the  Fifth,  while  still  beyond  it  stood  massed  Sheri- 
dan's cavalry,  whose  duty,  it  was  to  find  the  rebel  right, 
sweep  round  it,  and  come  back  on  the  enemy's  works  in 
flank  and  rear. 

The  great  eventful  moment  which  was  to  decide  the  fate 
of  Lee's  army  and  of  the  rebellion  had  come.  On  the 
29th,  Sheridan's  bugles  rang  out,  and  his  columns  mov- 
ing south  of  the  rebel  right  wing,  pushed  toward  Din- 
widdie Court  House,  while  the  Second  and  Fifth  corps 
crossed  Gravelly  Run  with  but  slight  resistance.  On  the 
31st  our  lines  were  united,  and  advanced  toward  the 
Boynton  plank^  road.  The  great  battle  now  commenced, 
and  the  fighting  all  this  day  was  most  terrific.  Crossing 
the  Boynton  road,  Warren  moved  north  to  the  White 
Oak  road ;  but  when  about  a  mile  from  it,  the  rebel  col- 
umns came  down  upon  him  in  one  overpowering  charge. 
Ayres  catches  it  first,  and  is  driven  back ;  Crawford,  who 
advances  to  the  .rescue,  shares  the  same  fate,  and  last 
the  impetuous  Griffin,  sweeping  forward  to  stem  the  tide, 
is  unable  to  stand  its  fury,  and  the  whole  line  is  driven 
back  to  the  Boynton  plank  road.  This  success  left  the 
enemy  at  leisure  to  turn  upon  Sheridan,  coming  in  on 


122  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

the  left,  forcing  him  back  also.  For  a  short  time  the 
prospect  looked  gloomy  ;  but  Sheridan,  bringing  up 
Ouster  and  Merritt,  drove  back  the  rebels ;  the  Fifth 
corps  reformed,  and  advancing,  regained  its  lost  ground. 
Grant,  informed  of  every  movement,  now  put  the  Fifth 
corps  under  Sheridan.  The  latter  at  once  set  to  work  vig- 
orously to  carry  out  Grant's  great  plan,  thus  temporarily 
checked.  On  the  1st  of  April  he  moved  upon  the  Five 
Forks,  and  a  desperate  battle  followed.  He  outdid  him- 
self on  this  day,  pouring  infantry  and  cavalry  forward 
with  an  impetuosity  that  nothing  could  resist.  The 
ground  was  strewn  with  the  dead,  but  the  place  was 
carried,  and  the  portion  of  the  rebel  army  holding  it  cut 
off  from  Petersburg,  and  sent,  broken  and  shattered,  west- 
ward, out  of  harm's  way.  The  capture  of  this  point  was 
the  signal  for  a  general  advance  along  the  lines.  Before 
daylight  on  Sunday  morning,  the  Sixth,  Second,  and 
Twenty-fourth  corps  started  for  the  Southside  Railroad, 
now  directly  in  their  front.  It  was  reached  through  a 
storm  of  fire,  and  torn  up  ;  then,  in  a  grand  wheel  to 
the  right,  the  army,  moving  back  around  Petersburg, 
came  down  on  the  rebel  works  in  ^rear.  The  right 
stormed  Fort  Mahon  and  captured  it.  This  will  not  do 
— the  mighty  line  of  defence,  costing  so  much  time  and 
labor,  is  crumbling  to  atoms.  The  impetuous  Hill  re- 
storms  the  fort — a  bloody  hand-to-hand  fight  follows — he 
succeeds — our  brave  troops  are  about  to  yield,  when  the 
Sixth  corps,  on  its  grand  wheel,  is  seen  approaching  oi: 
the  flank.  A  loud  shout  goes  up  ;  Hill  falls,  struggling 
desperately  to  retain  the  victory  just  within  his  grasp  ; 
the  rebels  flee,  and  the  fort  is  ours.  Grant's  splendid 
army  now  lay  in  the  rear  of  the  rebel  works,  and  the 
game  was  up.  That  Sunday's  fighting  solved  the  prob- 


CAPTURE    OF   RICHMOND.  123 

iem.  Davis,  at  church  in  Richmond,  heard  the  news, 
and,  Nebuchadnezzar-like,  saw  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall.  Hastily  packing  up  his  trunk,  he  left  the  capital. 
That  night  Petersburg  and  Richmond  were  both  evacu- 
ated. Lee  started  his  army  on  a  rapid  march  for  Dan- 
ville, hoping  to  get  south  and  join  Johnston,  now  con- 
fronting Sherman,  near  Raleigh.  Weitzel,  with  the  col- 
ored troops  stationed  on  the  north  side  of  the  James, 
marched  into  the  rebel  capital,  ran  up  the  old  flag,  and 
saluted  it  with  cannon  and  music.  The  news  spread 
like  wildfire  over  the  land,  till  the  electric  wires  quivered 
with  joy,  and  one  loud  shout  rocked  the  north.  The 
doors  of  Libby  prison  were  thrown  open,  only  to  close 
again  on  rebel  captives. 

Now  commenced  a  race  between  Lee's  and  Grant's 
armies— the  former  marching  swiftly  along  the  north 
bank  of  the  Appomattox,  and  the  latter  the  south  side, 
both  heading  for  Burke's  Station,  fifty-three  miles  from 
Petersburg,  where  the  Southside  and  Danville  Railroads 
intersect.  If  we  reached  it  first,  Lee's  chances  of  escape 
were  well  nigh  hopeless,  and  he  knew  it.  But  Grant  had 
.the  inside  track.  From  the  Rapidan  to  Richmond,  a 
year  before,  Lee  had  it.  Matters  were  reversed  now, 
and  Grant  was  not  the  general  to  let  this  advantage  be 
lost ;  so  the  two  armies  strained  forward,  Sheridan  all  the 
while  harassing  the  rebel  flank.  Lee's  army  marched 
for  life,  ours  for  victory.  Our  army,  by  putting  forth 
herculean  efforts,  marching  as  wearied  men  never  marched 
before,  reached  it  first,  and  Lee  was  cut  off  from  Danville 
by  that  route.  On  Thursday  afternoon,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  corps,  Sheridan  completely 
cut  off  and  captured  Swell's  entire  column  of  nine  thou- 
sand men,  seven  general  officers,  fifteen  field-pieces  of  ar 


124  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

tiller}-,  twenty-nine  battle-flags,  and  six  miles  of  wagon* 
trains. 

After  reaching  Burkesville,  Gen.  Meade,  witli  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  took  up  the 
pursuit  on  the  north  side  of  the  railroad,  while  Sheridan's 
cavalry  and  Ord's  Twenty-fourth  corps  moved  rapidly 
along  the  south  side  of  the  road,  Sheridan  being  con- 
stantly on  Lee's  flanks,  frequently  compelling  him  to  halt 
and  form  line  of  battle,  and  as  often  engaging  him,  cut- 
ting off  detachments,  picking  up  stragglers,  capturing 
cannon  without  number,  and  demoralizing  the  enemy  at 
every  stand.  On  Friday,  at  Farmville,  sixteen  miles 
west  of  Burkesville,  a  considerable  engagement  occurred, 
in  which  the  Second  corps  participated  largely  and 
suffered  some  loss.  Lee,  however,  wa-s  compelled  to  con- 
tinue his  retreat.  At  High  Bridge,  over  the  Appo- 
mattox,  Lee  again  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
and  two  of  our  regiments,  the  Fifty-fourth  Pennsylvania 
and  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-third  Ohio,  which  were 
sent  there  to  hold  the  bridge,  were  captured  by  a  strong 
rebel  cavalry  force.  The  railroad  bridge  at  this  point,  a 
very  high  and  long  structure,  was  burned  by  the  enemy. 
"  Lee  now  headed  directly  for  Lynchburg,  in  the  hope  of 
reaching  a  point  where  he  could  move  around  the  front 
of  our  left  wing,  and  escape  toward  Danville  by  a  road 
which  runs  directly  south  from  a  point  about  twenty 
miles  east  of  Lynchburg.  But  Grant  was  too  vigorous — 
the  pursuit  was  too  hot.  Lee's  rear  and  flanks  were  so 
sorely  pressed  that  he  was  compelled  to  skirmish  nearly 
every  step,  and  to  destroy  or  abandon  an  immense  amount 
of  property,  while  Sheridan  was  rapidly  shooting  ahead 
of  him.  The  position,  therefore,  on  Sunday  morning, 
was  one  from  which  Lee  could  not  possibly  extricate 


CORRESPONDENCE.  125 

himself."  "  His  army  lay  massed  a  short  distance  west  of 
Appomattox  Court  House ;  his  last  avenue  of  escape  to- 
ward Danville  on  the  southwest  was  gone  ;  he  was  com- 
pletely hemmed  in ;  Meade  was  in  his  rear  on  the  east 
and  on  his  right  flank  north  of  Appomattox  Court  Hquse ; 
Sheridan  had  headed  him  off  completely,  by  getting  be- 
tween him  and  Lynchburg ;  Gen.  Ord  was  on  the  south 
of  the  Court  House,  near  the  railroad ;  the  troops  were  in 
the  most  enthusiastic  spirits,  and  the  rebel  army  was 
doomed.  Lee's  last  effort  to  escape  was  made  on  Sunday 
morning,  by  attempting  to  cut  his  way  through  Sheri- 
dan's lines,  but  it  totally  failed." 

Grant,  now  seeing  that  Lee's  escape  was  hopeless,  sent 
him  the  following  note,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  correspondence  given  below  : 

APRIL  7, 1866. 

General  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. 

GENERAL  :  The  result  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  farther  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from 
myself  the  responsibility  of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you 
the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States  Army,  known  as  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GBANT, 
Lieutenant-General,  Commanding  Armies  of  the  United  States. 


APRIL  7, 1865. 

GENEEAL :  I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date. 

Though  not  entirely  of  the  opinion  you  express,  of  the  hopelessness  of  fur- 
ther resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  I  reciprocate 
your  desire  to.  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  and  therefore,  before  con- 
sidering  your  proposition,  ask  the  terms  you  will  offer,  on  condition  of  iU 

surrender. 

E.  E.  LEE,  General. 

To  Lieutenant  General  U.  S.  GBANT,  Commanding  Armies  of  the  United 
States. 


126  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

AFKIL  8, 1866. 
To  General  E.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  8.  A. 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  last  evening,  in  reply  to  mine  of  same  date, 
asking  the  conditions  on  which  I  will  accept  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  is  just  received. 

In  reply,  I  would  say  that  peace  heing  my  first  desire,  there  is  lut  one 
condition  that  I  insist  upon,  viz. : 

That  the  men  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up  arms  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged. 

I  will  meet  you,  or  designate  officers  to  meet  any  officers  you  may  name, 
for  the  same  purpose,  at  any  point  agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of 
arranging  definitely  the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  will  be  received. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GEANT, 
Lieutenant-General,  Commanding  Armies  of  the  United  States. 


APRIL  8, 1865. 

GENERAL  :  I  received,  at  a  late  hour,  your  note  of  to-day,  in  answer  to 
mine  of  yesterday. 

I  did  not  intend  to  propose  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  but  to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I  do  not 
think  the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender. 

But  as  the  restoration  of  peace  should  he  the  sole  object  of  all,  I  desire  to 
know  whether  your  proposals  would  tend  to  that  end. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  surrender  the  army  of 
Northern  Virginia;  but  as  far  as  your  proposition  may  affect  the  Confederate 
States  forces  under  my  command,  and  tend  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  I 
should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  10  A.  M.  to-morrow,  on  the  old  stage-road 
to  Eichmond,  between  the  picket-lines  of  the  two  armies. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  E.  LEE,  General  0.  S.  A. 


APRIL  9, 1865. 

General  12.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  8.  A. 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  As  I  have  no  authority 
to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace,  the  meeting  proposed  for  10  A.  M.  to-day 
could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state,  however,  General,  that  /  am  equally 
anxious  for  peace  with  yourself;  and  the  whole  North  entertain  the  same 
feeling.  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  ~be  had  are  well  understood.  By  tht 


LEE   SURRENDERS.  127 

South  laying  down  their  arms,  they  will  hasten  that  most  desirable  event,  save 
thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hundreds  of  million*  of  property  not  y(i 
destroyed. 

Sincerely  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled  without  the  lost 
of  another  life,  I  subscribe  myself, 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT, 
Lieutenant-General  United  States  Army. 


SUNDAY,  April  9, 1865. 

GENERAL:  I  received  your  note  of  this  morning,  on  the  picket-line, 
whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you,  and  ascertain  definitely  what  terms  were 
embraced  in  your  proposition  of  yesterday  with  reference  to  the  surrender 
of  this  army. 

I  now  request  an  interview  in  accordance  with  the  offer  contained  in 
your  letter  of  yesterday  for  that  purpose. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,  General 
To  Lieutenant-General  GRANT,  Commanding  United  States  Armies. 


SUNDAY,  April  9, 186&. 
General  JR.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. 

Your  note  of  this  date  is  but  this  moment,  11:50  A.  M.  received.    , 
In  consequence  of  my  having  passed  from  the  Richmond  and  Lynchburg 
road  to  the  Farmville  and  Lynchburg  road,  I  am  at  this  writing  about  four 
miles  west  of  Walter's  church,  and  will  push  forward  to  the  front  for  th» 
purpose  of  meeting  you. 

Notice  sent  to  me,  on  this  road,  where  you  wish  the  interview  to  take 
place,  will  meet  me. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

APPOMATTOX  COUKT  HOUSK,  April  0, 1865.    ' 

general  H.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. 

In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letters  to  you  of  the  8th  inst.,  I 
propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  on  the 
following  terms,  to  wit: 

Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  b0 
9 


128  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   GRANT. 

given  to  an  officer  designated  "by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such 
officers  as  you  may  designate. 

The  officers  to  give  their  individual  paroles  not  to  take  arms  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged,  and  each 
company  or  regimental  commander  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their 
commands. 

The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property  to  be  packed  and  stacked  and 
turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them. 

This  will  not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private 
horses  or  baggage. 

This  done,  EACH  OFFICER  AND  MAN  WILL  BE  ALLOWED  TO 
RETURN  TO  THEIR  HOMES,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United  States 
authority  so  long  as  they  observe  their  parole  and  the  laws  in  force  where 
they  reside. 

Very  respectfully, 

U.  S.  GKANTT  Lieutenant-General. 


HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  ) 
April  9,  1865.      } 

^Lieutenant-  General  U.  S.  Grant,  Commanding  U.  8.  A. 

GENERAL:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  CONTAINING  THE 
TERMS  OF  SURRENDER  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 
.as  proposed  by  you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed 
in  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  THEY  ARE  ACCEPTED.  I  will  proceed  to 
'desigaate  the  proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 


Upon  the  reception  of  this  letter,  Grant  hastened  to 
the  front,  where  Lee  was  awaiting  him.  The  two  met  in 
the  parlor  of  a  neighboring  brick  house,  and  saluted  each 
'Other  with  dignified  courtesy.  Lee  presented  his  sword, 
which  Grant  received,  and  after  contemplating  it  a  mo- 
ment, handed  back,  saying,  "it  could  not  be  worn  by  a 
braver  man."  The  scene  was  one  of  intense  interest 
The  younger,  the  victor,  stood  there  backed  by  a  million 
of  soldiers ;  the  elder,  vanquished,  had  but  the  fragment 
of  a  disheartened  army  left  him.  Long  years  before, 


LENIENT   TERMS.  131 

they  had  fought  side  by  side  under  the  same  dear  old 
flag  ;  for  the  last  year  they  had  confronted  each  other  as 
foes,  and  struggled  to  overthrow  each  other  on  many  a 
desperately  contested  battle-field.  At  their  behest,  men 
by  tens  of  thousands  had  crowded  the  portals  of  death, 
and  the  track  behind  each  was  a  long  pathway  of  blood. 
The  earth  had  groaned  under  the  weight  of  their  artillery, 
and  the  battle-shouts  of  their  brave  armies  had  shaken 
the  heavens.  Well-matched,  neither  for  a  long  year  had 
been  able  to  wring  decided  success  from  the  other.  And 
now  they  stood  face  to  face.  What  memories  must  have 
crowded  upon  them — what  different  prospects  opened 
before  them ! 

Lee  at  once  acknowledged  the  lenient  terms  of  the 
surrender,  and  proposed  to  leave  all  the  details  to  General 
Grant.  In  speaking  of  the  phrase,  "personal  effects." 
Lee  asked  an  explanation  of  it,  saying  that  many  of  his 
cavalrymen  owned  their  own  horses.  Grant  replied  that 
they  must  be  turned  over  to  the  government.  Lee  ad- 
mitted the  correctness  of  the  interpretation,  when  Grant 
said  that  he  would  instruct  his  officers  to  let  those  men 
who  owned  their  horses  retain  them,  as  they  would  need 
them  to  till  their  farms. 

The  rebel  army  had  scattered  very  much  within  the 
last  few  days,  to  say  nothing  of  the  killed  and  captured ; 
so  that  not  more  than  20,000  or  25,000  men  were  pres- 
ent to  lay  down  their  arms. 

A  more  eventful  Sunday  than  this  to  the  nation 
never  passed,  and  could  it  have  everywhere  been  known 
what  was  transpiring  that  afternoon,  the  gentle  chime  of 
bells,  calling  the  congregations  to  the  house  of  prayer, 
would  have  been  changed  to  a  wild  and  deafening  clamor. 

The  next  day  the  two  generals  met  on  an  eminence 


132  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

in  full  view  of  the  rebel  array,  and  conversed  for  nearly 
on  hour  on  the  future  prospects  of  the  country,  and  the 
best  mode  of  restoring  unity,  harmony,  and  prosperity. 

When  the  news  reached  Johnston  and  Sherman,  an 
armistice  was  agreed  on  between  them,  the  terms  of 
which  not  being  approved  by  the  Government,  Grant  was 
sent  down  to  arrange  matters.  The  same  terms  which 
had  been  granted  Lee  were  offered  and  accepted  by  the 
former  commander,  and  the  rebellion  was  ended. 

The  mighty  structure,  which  for  four  years  had  with- 
stood the  colossal  power  of  the  North,  and  attracted  to  it 
the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world,  suddenly  dissolved,  like  a 
fabric  of  mist,  and  was  straightway  seen  no  more. 

Grant  now  became  the  great  man  of  the  nation,  and 
the  chief  soldier  of  the  age.  The  nation  delighted  to  do 
him  honor,  and  shouts  and  acclamations  attended  his 
footsteps  wherever  he  moved.  Smoking  his  cigar  with 
the  nonchalance  that  he  ,was  wont  to  do  in  the  wild- 
est shock  of  battle,  he  received  the  adulation  of  the  people 
with  the  same  apparent  indifference  he  had  the  volleys  of 
his  foes,  and,  without  being  made  dizzy  by  the  pinnacle  . 
Dn  which  he  suddenly  found  himself  standing,  seemed 
pleased  only  that  his  country  was  once  more  at  peace. 

HIS  CHARACTER. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  analyze  the  mental  than  the 
moral  character  of  Grant.  Indeed,  he  seems  to  have  no 
peculiarly  striking  qualities,  so  evenly  balanced  is  his 
whole  character.  He  is  not  a  man  of  genius,  like  Sher- 
man, who  dared  to  strike  out  a  new  military  system, 
demolished  old  established  theories,  and,  like  the  First 
Napoleon,  introduced  new  military  maxims.  He  is  rather 


HIS   CHARACTER.  133 

a  man  of  great  military  talent,  doing  things  not  so  much 
in  a  different  way  from  other  generals,  as  with  different 
power.  Amid  all  his  splendid  achievements,  we  cannot 
recall  one  which  indicates  any  particular  genius,  except 
his  march  from  Grand  Gulf  to  Vicksburg.  This  swift, 
marvellous  campaign  was  equal  to  the  young  Napoleon's 
first  campaign  in  Italy,  which  gave  him  his  fame.  Mil- 
itary annals  can  furnish  nothing  superior  to  it  in  bold- 
ness of  design,  skillfulness  of  combination,  and  amazing 
rapidity  and  success  of  execution. 

Grant's  whole  mental  nature  is  sluggish.  It  is  said 
that  when  he  kept  store,  it  was  hard  to  make  him  leave 
his  seat  to  wait  on  a  customer.  But  this  sluggishness  is 
not  indolence,  as  his  career  abundantly  testifies.  There 
are  some  men  in  this  world  possessing  immense  mental 
power,  who  yet,  from  mere  inertness,  pass  through  life 
with  poor  success.  Lighter  natures  outstrip  them  in  the 
race  for  wealth  or  position,  and  the  strength  they  really 
possess  is  never  known,  because  it  has  never  been  called 
out.  It  never  is  called  out  by  ordinary  events.  They 
were  made  for  great  emergencies,  and  if  these  do  not  arise, 
they  seem  almost  made  in  vain  ;  at  least  these  extraordi- 
nary powers  appear  to  be  given  them  in  vain.  Grant  is  one 
of  these.  He  is  like  a  great  wheel,  on  which  mere  rills  of 
water  may  drop  for  ever  without  moving  it,  or  if  they 
succeed  in  disturbing  its  equilibrium,  only  make  it  ac- 
complish a  partial  revolution.  It  needs  an  immense 
body  of  water  to  make  it  roll,  and  then  it  revolves  with 
a  power  and  majesty  that  awes  the  beholder.  No  slight  ob- 
structions then  can  arrest  its  mighty  sweep.  Acquiring 
momentum  with  each  revolution,  it  crushes  to  atoms 
everything  thrust  before  it  to  check  its  motion. 

This  is  the  kind  of  sluggishness  which  characterizes 


134  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    GRANT. 

Grant — the  sluggishness  of  great  weight  which  always 
takes  a  great  force  to  move,  but  whose  activity,  when  once 
set  in  motion,  is  something  fearful  to  contemplate. 

As  a  military  man,  he  has  shown  a  remarkable  power 
in  one  respect  that  has  hardly  been  commented  upon — 
the  power  of  handling  large  armies.  Napoleon  denied 
that  more  than  one  or  two  generals  beside  himself  in  all 
Europe,  could  manoeuvre  a  hundred  thousand  men  on  the 
field  of  battle.  Grant  did  more  than  this,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  handled  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on 
the  route  from  the  Rapidan  to  Richmond,  was  more  as- 
tonishing than  the  winning  of  a  great  battle.  The  way 
he  swung  it  from  Spottsylvania  to  the  North  Anna,  with- 
out having  his  flank  crushed  in,  and  from  thence  to 
the  Pamunkey,  and,  last  of  all,  from  the  Chickahominy, 
for  fifty  miles,  across  the  James,  right  from  under  the 
nose  of  the  enemy,  and  yet  never  be  attacked,  shows  a 
capacity  in  wielding  enormous  forces  possessed  by  few 
men  in  the  world. 

His  moral  qualities  lie  more  on  the  surface,  and  can 
be  appreciated  by  all.  He  is  grand  here,  as  in  his  men- 
tal organization.  Noble  in  his  generosity,  he  is  often 
kinder  to  his  subordinates  than  they  are  to  themselves. 
Gentle  to  his  foes  when  conquered,  he  subdues  them  by 
his  kindness  after  they  have  yielded  to  his  arms.  Envious 
of  none,  and  apparently  devoid  of  ambition,  he  has  la- 
bored with  the  single  desire  to  serve  his  country  and  vin- 
dicate her  flag. 

No  man  of  modern  times  has  arisen  from  so  insignifi- 
cant a  position  to  so  lofty  a  one  in  so  short  a  period,  and 
yet  there  has  not  been  a  word  or  an  act  that  shows  it  has 
disturbed  the  equipoise  of  his  character.  We  regard  this 
as  more  remarkable  than  his  military  success.  We  are 


HIS   CHARACTER.  135 

told  that  "  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  greater  than  he 
that  taketh  a  city."  General  Grant  has  shown  that  he 
can  do  this.  Taking  cities  is  not  an  uncommon  exploit ; 
but  this  thorough  control  of  one's  self,  under  the  most 
unfavorable  circumstances,  is  little  short  of  a  miracle. 
He  has  not  been  betrayed  into  a  foolish  word  or  act,  or 
indulged  in  an  angry  expression,  or  exhibited  a  revenge- 
ful spirit  towards  his  enemies.  He  has  never  sought 
promotion,  indulged  in  no  recriminations  under  slan- 
derous charges,  nor  used  his  power  to  humble  an 
enemy.  Disliking  public  ovations,  he  submits  to  them 
with  a  simpleness  of  manner  that  adds  an  inexpressible 
charm  to  his  character.  Though  so  far  above  the  people, 
he  feels  as  one  of  them,  and  wears  his  honors  as  but  few 
of  our  poor  fallen  race  can  wear  them.  It  is  these 
qualities,  that,  though  so  undemonstrative  himself,  make 
him  universally  beloved. 


CHAPTER  VL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN 

SHERMAN  AND    GRANT — SHERMAN'S    NATIVITY   AND   EARLY  LIFE — ADOPTED 

BY  MR.   EWINQ SENT  TO  WEST    POINT — MADE   SECOND     LIEUTENANT  IN 

THE  THIRD  ARTILLERY  AND  SENT  TO  FLORIDA— STATIONED  AT  FORT 
MOULTRIE,  SOUTH  CAROLINA — SENT  TO  CALIFORNIA — RESIGNS  HIS  COM- 
MISSION AND  BECOMES  PRESIDENT  OF  A  BANKING-HOUSE  IN  SAN  FRAN- 
CISCO— MADE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  STATE  MILITARY  ACADEMY 
— SEEING  WAR  INEVITABLE,  RESIGNS  HIS  PLACE  IN  A  NOBLE  LETTER — 
VISITS  WASHINGTON,  AND  IS  ASTOUNDED  AT  THE  APATHY  THERE — GIVES 
THE  PRESIDENT  AND  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  HIS  VIEWS,  WHICH  ONLY 
CREATE  A  SMILE — MADE  COLONEL  AND  FIGHTS  AT  BULL  RUN — MADE 
BRIGADIER  OF  VOLUNTEERS  AND  SENT  TO  KENTUCKY — INTERVIEW  WITH 
THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  AND  ADJUTANT -GENERAL — ANECDOTE  OF  HIM 
— PRONOUNCED  CRAZY — RELIEVED  FROM  COMMAND  AND  SENT  TO  JEF- 
FERSON BARRACKS — COMMANDS  A  DIVISION  AT  SHILOH — SAVES  THE 
BATTLE — THE  FIRST  TO  ENTER  CORINTH — TAKES  HOLLY  SPRINGS — COM- 
MANDS AT  MEMPHIS-w-HIS  ATTACK  ON  VICKSBURG — ARKANSAS  POST — 
FULL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PART  HE  TOOK  IN  GRANT'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST 
VICKSBURG — ORDERED  TO  CHATTANOOGA — DEATH  OF  HIS  BOY,  WHOM 
THE  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  HAD  ADOPTED  AS  A  PET,  AND  ELECTED 
SERGEANT — TOUCHING  LETTER  TO  THE  REGIMENT. 

SHERMAN  and  Grant  will  always  occupy  a  prominent 
place  in  our  history,  not  merely  because  they  were  great 
generals,  but  because  their  last  campaigns,  though  sepa- 
rated by  a  vast  interval,  yet,  working  to  one  common  end, 
closed -the  struggle.  For  a  year,  their  movements  en- 
grossed the  thoughts  and  anxiety  of  the  nation,  and  in 
the  end  they  stood  together,  the  two  grand  central  figures 


MAJ.  GEN. WILLIAM  T.5HEHMAW. 


*      »    f 


-f 


ADOPTED   BY   THOMAS   EWING.  137 

on  the  stage  of  action.  Linked  together,  as  the  com- 
manders of  our  two  great  armies,  they  move  together  to- 
ward a  central  point,  and  reaching  it,  stand  up  on  their 
field  of  final  triumph,  the  centre  of  attraction  to  the 
civilized  world.  So,  linked  together,  they  will  go  down, 
side  by  side,  to  immortality. 

William  Tecumseh  Sherman  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
Fairfield  county,  Ohio,  on  the  8th  day  of  February, 
1820,  and  hence  was  only  forty-four  years  of  age  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war.  His  father  being  an  ad- 
mirer of  the  great  Indian  Chief,  Tecumseh,  gave  him  that 
name.  Three  years  after  Tecumseh's  birth,  the  father  was 
elected  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  of  Ohio,  and  held  this 
position  till  his  death,  in  1829.  He  was  suddenly  taken 
ill  while  on  the  Bench,  and  died  away  from  home,  a  vic- 
tim to  the  cholera.  William,  at  this  time,  was  only  nine 
years  of  age,  and  one  of  eleven  children  left  to  the  care 
of  the  widow.  The  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  a  friend  of 
the  father,  proposed  to  adopt  William  as  his  son,  and 
provide  for  his  education  and  entrance  into  active  life. 
His  proposal  was  accepted,  and  placing  him  in  the  acad- 
emy of  the  place,  he  kept  him  at  school  until  sixteen ; 
when  he  sent  him  to  West  Point  Military  Academy,  He 
graduated  four  years  after,  in  1840,  the  sixth  of  his  class, 
and  entered  the  service  as  second  lieutenant  of  the  Third 
Artillery.  Being  ordered  to  Florida,  he  served  there  till 
next  year.  In  November,  he  was  made  first  lieutenant, 
and  afterward  stationed  at  Fort  Moultrie,  South  Caro- 
lina. In  1846,  he  was  sent  to  California,  where  he  re- 
mained on  duty  during  the  Mexican  War,  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  captain.  In  1850,  he  was  married  in  Wash- 
ton  to  the  eldest  daughter  of  his  benefactor,  to  whom  he 
had  been  attached  from  his  schoolboy  days.  Three  years 

f 


138  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

after,  in  1853,  becoming  tired  of  a  profession  that  coo 
sisted  in  a  mere  monotonous  round  of  unvarying  duties, 
he  resigned  his  commission,  and  was  made  President  of 
the  Banking  House  of  Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.,  San  Fran- 
cisco. He  remained  here  for  several  years  ;  but  in  1860, 
being  offered  the  Presidency  of  the  Louisiana  State 
Military  Academy  at  Alexandria,  with  a  salary  of  five , 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  he  accepted  it,  and  remained  in 
that  position  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  or,  rather, 
till  he  saw  that  war  was  inevitable.  In  January,  previous 
to  the  attack  on  Sumter,  he  sent  in  his  resignation,  with 
the  following  noble  letter,  which  shows  the  wonderful 
forecast  which  afterward  caused  him  to  be  denounced 
as  crazy,  but  which  made  him  the  great  general  he  was. 

Gov.  Thomas  #' Moore. 

BATON  EOTJGE,  LA. 

SIR  :  As  I  occupy  a  quasi-military  position  under  this  State,  I  deem  it 
proper  to  acquaint  you  that  I  accepted  such  a  position  when  Louisiana  was 
a  State  in  the  Union,  and  when  the  motto  of  the  Seminary  was  inserted  in 
marble  over  the  main  door :— "  By  the  liberality  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  /States— The  Union,  Esto  Perpetual 

Recent  events  foreshadow  a  great  change,  and  it  becomes  all  men  to 
choose.  If  Louisiana  withdraws  from  the  Federal  Union,  I  prefer  to  main- 
tain my  allegiance  to  the  old  Constitution  as  long  as  a  fragment'  of  it  sur- 
vives, and  my  longer  stay  here  would  be  wrong  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
In  that  event,  I  beg  you  will  send  or  appoint  some  authorized  agent  to  take 
charge  of  the  arms  and  munitions  of  war  here  belonging  to  the  State,  or 
direct  me  what  disposition  shall  be  made  of  them. 

And,  furthermore,  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  I  beg  you  to 
take  immediate  steps  to  relieve  me,  as  Superintendent,  the  moment  the  State 
determines  to  secede ;  for  on  no  earthly  account  will  I  do  any  act,  or  think 
any  thought,  hostile  to,  or  in  defiance  of,  the  old  Government  of  the  United 
States. 

"With  great  respect,  &c., 

W.  T.  SHEEMAN. 

The  closing  sentence  of  this  letter  is  worthy  of  being 
written  in  gold  on  the  front  of  the  national  capitol. 


INTERVIEW   WITH   THE    PRESIDENT.  139 

His  resignation  being  accepted,  lie  went  to  St.  Louis, 
and,  just  before  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  repaired  to 
Washington,  and  had  an  interview  with  the  President 
and  Secretary  of  War.  He  laid  before  them,  plainly,  his 
views,  at  which  they  smiled,  evidently  regarding  him  as  a 
very  patriotic,  but  excitable,  imaginative,  man — one  who 
had  lived  so  long  at  the  south  that  he  had  imbibed  its 
extravagant  notions.  The  President  still  clung  to  the  in- 
fatuated idea  to  which  he  gave  utterance  while  on  the 
way  to  Washington  to  be  inaugurated,  that  it  was  an 
"  artificial  excitement,"  and  said  jocularly,  in  reply  to 
Sherman's  earnest  representations,  "  We  shan't  need 
many  men  like  you,  the  whole  affair  will  soon  blow 


over." 


Sherman  was  completely  astounded  at  the  apparent 
ignorance  and  incredulity  of  the  Government  as  to  the  real 
state  of  aifairs,  and  declared  openly  that  those  in  authority 
were  sleeping  on  a  volcano  that  would  soon  open  unex- 
pectedly beneath  them.  With  his  great  forecast,  he  per- 
ceived a  struggle  impending,  the  like  of  which  the  world 
had  never  seen — nay,  he  already  saw  the  ragged  edges  of 
the  thunder-cloud  above  the  horizon,  which  soon  was  to 
darken  all  the  land,  and  deluge  it  with  fire  and  storm. 
Filled  with  such  views,  and  alarmed  at  the  apathy  around 
him,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Secretary  Cameron,  in  which 
he  said  that,  as  he  was  educated  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States,  and  owed  everything  to  his  country,  he 
had  come  on  to  tender  his  military  services,  and  declared, 
in  solemn  language,  that  war  was  inevitable,  and  that  he 
(the  Secretary)  was  unprepared  for  it. 

The  fall  of  Sumter  finally  convinced  the  Government 
that  "the  storm"  threatened  to  be  a  little  too  boisterous 
while  "bio  wing  over,"  and  it  called  for  75,000  three  months' 


140  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

men.  Sherman's  friends  now  urged  him  to  go  home  to 
Ohio  and  superintend  the  organization  of  the  troops.  He 
rejected  the  proposition  with  scorn,  replying  that  he  did 
not  believe  in  such  trifling  expedients.  "  Why/1  said  he, 
in  his  abrupt,  proud  way,  "  you  might  as  well  undertake 
to  extinguish  the  flames  of  a  burning  building  with  a 
squirt-gun,  as  to  put  down  this  rebellion  with  three 
months1  troops."  When  asked  what  course  ought  to  be 
adopted — "  Organize,"  said  he,  "  for  a  gigantic  war  at 
once ;  call  out  the  whole  military  power  of  the  country, 
and  with  an  overwhelming,  irresistible  force,  strangle  the 
rebellion  in  its  very  birth." 

In  the  army  that  soon  began  to  gather  at  Washing- 
ton, Sherman's  friends,  knowing  his  ability,  wished  him 
to  have  an  important  command ;  but  he  replied,  "  I  do 
not  wish  a  prominent  place — this  is  to  be  a  long  and 
bloody  war."  As  mountain  summits  catch  the  sunlight 
long  before  it  reaches  the  valleys  below,  so  great  men  are 
illuminated  by  a  wisdom  that  comes  to  ordinary  mortals 
only  with  time.  Had  Sherman  been  invested  with  su- 
preme power  at  this  time,  the  monster  that  attained  such 
a  gigantic  growth  would  have  been  strangled  in  its  in- 
fancy. 

McDowell,  in  organizing  his  army  for  the  advance  on 
Manassas,  was  anxious  to  secure  his  services,  and  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  colonel  in  the  regular  army, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Thirteenth  In- 
fantry. In  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  that  followed,  he 
commanded  a  brigade  (the  Third)  in  Tyler's  division, 
which  held  the  position  in  front  of  the  Stone  Bridge, 
while  Hunter  and  Heintzleman  were  making  their  wide 
flank  movement  to  the  right.  When  they,  pressing  up 
their  success,  came  down  the  further  bank  of  the  stream, 


BULL   RUN.  141 

opposite  to  him,  he  crossed  over,  and  effected  a  junction 
with  Hunter's  division.  He  arrived  just  in  time,  for,  as 
his  four  regiments  rose  over  a  hill,  he  saw  that  Burnside 
was  nearly  overpowered  by  the  enemy.  Moving  swiftly 
forward,  he  poured  in  a  close  and  murderous  volley,  and 
held  his  brave  regulars  firmly  to  their  work.  Says  Burn- 
side,  "  It  was  Sherman's  brigade  that  arrived  at  about 
half-past  twelve,  and,  by  a  most  deadly  fire,  assisted  in 
breaking  the  enemy's  lines."  How  Sherman  fought  in 
this  first  great  battle  of  the  rebellion  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact,  that  two-thirds  of  the  loss  in  the  division 
fell  on  his  single  brigade,  while  it  was  over  a  fifth  of  that 
in  the  whole  army. 

The  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio  now  urged  his 
promotion,  and  on  the  3d  of  August  he  was  made  Brig- 
adier-General of  Volunteers.  When  Anderson  was  sent 
to  Kentucky  to  take  charge  of  the  department  south  of 
the  Ohio,  Sherman  was  made  his  second  in  command,  and 
despatched  by  him  with  seven  thousand  men — volunteers 
and  home  guards — to  occupy  Muldraugh's  Hill,  an  im- 
portant point  south  of  the  Rolling  Fork  (Salt  River). 
While  on  the  way,  he  made  the  home  guards  a  speech, 
telling  them  of  the  necessity  for  their  services,  and  pro- 
posed to  muster  them  into  the  United  States'  service  for 
thirty  days.  To  this  they  demurred,  as  they  were  with- 
out tents  and  haversacks,  and  mostly  without  blankets. 
At  this  Sherman  grew  angry,  and  abruptly  told  them 
they  were  a  "  paltry  set  of  fellows."  Chagrined  at  this 
accusation  they,  on  the  spot,  voted  him  a  "gruff  old 
cock."  But  finding  that,  for  a  time  at  least,  they  had  got 
to  be  under  his  command,  they  declared  that  he  was  a 
"bitter  pill"  to  swallow,  and  at  once  changed  his  title 
into  "  old  pills."  They  finally  consented  to  be  mustered 


142  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

in  for  fifteen  days,  which  so  mollified  Sherman  that  he 
immediately  promised  them  tents,  blankets,  and  every- 
thing necessary  for  their  comfort.  This  at  once  changed 
the  feelings  of  the  guard,  and  one  of  them,  in  high  glee, 
exclaiming  that  "old  pills"  was  sugar-coated,  his  title 
was  immediately  changed  to  "  old  sugar-coated,"  and  by 
that  name  he  continued  to  be  called  till  he  left  the  depart- 
ment. 

At  the  expiration  of  their  term,  the  home  guards  left 
him,  and  he  found  himself  with  only  five  thousand  men 
in  a  disloyal  section,  opposed  to  Buckner  with  twenty-five 
thousand. 

Anderson  now  resigning  on  account  of  ill  health, 
Sherman  assumed  supreme  command.  He  at  once  asked 
for  reinforcements,  and  at  the  same  time  employed  every 
artifice  to  conceal  his  real  weakness  from  the  enemy. 
But  the  correspondents  of  the  press,  in  various  ways, 
without  intending  to  do  so,  counteracted  his  efforts,  and 
often  exposed  the  very  things  he  wished  to  be  kept  secret. 
This  so  exasperated  him,  that  he  issued  a  stringent  order, 
excluding  all  reporters  and  writers  for  the  press  from  his 
lines.  This  was  considered  a  high-handed  proceeding, 
and  brought  down  on  him  a  storm  of  abuse  from  every 
side. 

At  this  time,  the  New  York  Associated  Press  through- 
out the  country  was  employed  by  the  Government  in  trans- 
mitting its  cipher  messages.  Hence,  Sherman  visited 
frequently  the  office  of  its  agent,  in  Louisville,  where  he 
would  often  remain  till  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  so 
absorbed  in  thought  that  he  would  not  reply  to  even  a 
direct  question. 

Only  some  ten  thousand  men  had  been  sent  into  Ken- 
tucky, and  he  urged  the  Government  so  persistently  for 


PRONOUNCED   CRAZY.  143 

more  troops,  saying  that  his  position  was  a  perilous  one, 
that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Adjutant-General  Thomas 
were  sent  to  Louisville  to  investigate  the  condition  of  af- 
fairs. In  an  interview  at  the  Gait  House,  Sherman  made 
a  clear  statement  of  the  condition  of  affairs,  declaring  that 
reinforcements  must  at  once  be  sent  him.  Said  he,  "  My 
forces  are  too  small  for  an  advance,  too  small  to  hold  the 
important  positions  in  the  State  against  an  advance  of  the 
enemy,  and  altogether  too  large  to  be  sacrificed  in  detail.'1 
"Well,"  they  inquired,  "how  many  men  do  you  need  to 
drive  the  enemy  out  of  the  State  ?  "  "  Sixty  thousand," 
promptly  replied  Sherman.  "  And  how  many  for  final 
success  in  the  valley?  "  "  Two  hundred  thousand."  The 
Secretary  and  Adjutant-General  laughed  outright  at  the 
declaration,  saying  that  it  was  absurd,  for  no  such  force 
could  be  given  him.  "Then,"  replied  Sherman,  "you 
had  better  abandon  Kentucky  altogether,  and  not  endan 
ger  the  army  by  scattering  it,  and  so  leaving  it  to  be  over 
whelmed  in  detail."  They  opposed  this  suggestion,  and 
proposed  to  divide  the  department,  placing  one  column 
under  Mitchell  to  operate  against  Knoxville,  and  the 
other  under  himself  against  Nashville.  To  this  he  would 
not  give  his  consent.  On  that  same  evening,  still  smart- 
ing from  the  remembrance  of  this  unpleasant  interview, 
he  visited  the  room  of  the  agent  of  the  associated  press. 
While  there,  a  stranger  approached  him,  and  introducing 
himself  as  a  correspondent  of  a  New  York  paper,  asked 
for  a  pass  to  proceed  through  his  lines  south.  Sherman 
bluntly  replied  that  he  could  not  give  him  one.  The  man 
insolently  retorted,  "  Well,  Secretary  Cameron  is  in  the 
city,  and  I  will  get  one  from  him."  This  was  too  much 
for  Sherman  in  his  then  irritable  mood,  and  he  at  once 
ordered  him  out  of  his  department,  saying  that  he  would 


144  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

give  him  two  hours  to  get  away,  and  if  he  found  him 
within  his  lines  after  that  time  he  would  hang  him  as  a 
spy.  The  man  concluded  not  to  seek  the  protection  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  under  the  circumstances,  and  left 
the  city  by  the  first  train.  On  reaching  Cincinnati,  he 
reported,  with  apparent  sincerity,  that  Sherman  was 
crazy,  stark,  staring  mad.  An  editor,  hearing  of  the  in- 
terview between  Sherman  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  got 
this  man  to  write  up  a  report  of  it,  who  did  so,  and  en- 
deavored to  prove  that  Sherman  was  unquestionably  in- 
sane. In  this  manner,  the  story  of  his  lunacy  got  afloat, 
which  chagrined  him  deeply,  and  he  gave  utterances  to 
his  indignation  in  bitter  terms.  A  few  such  madmen  at 

o 

the  head  of  the  government  at  that  time  would  have 
saved  the  nation  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives,  and  a 
national  debt  that  lies  like  an  incubus  upon  it. 

Soon  after  the  Adjutant-General's  official  report  of 
this  interview,  giving  more  information  to  the  enemy  than 
all  the  correspondents  of  the  land  could  do,  of  his  weak- 
ness and  position,  got  into  print,  which  so  disgusted  him, 
that  he  asked  to  be  relieved.  His  request  was  granted, 
and  Buell  put  in  his  place.  That  he  was  "  crazy,"  was 
now  an  accepted  fact,  and  he  was  sent  to  Jefferson  bar- 
racks, where  it  was  not  expected  that  his  moon-struck 
theories  could  do  any  harm.  There  is  an  old  proverb, 
that  there  is  a  "  special  providence  for  children  and  fools.'1 
In 'looking  over  the  management  of  the  government  at  the 
outset  of  the  rebellion,  it  seems  that  the  same  special 
providence  alone  saved  us  from  ruin.  To  all  appearance, 
Sherman  was  now  laid  aside  for  the  war. 

But  a  different  sort  of  man  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  was  now  to  be  thrown  in  contact  with  him.  Grant 
could  appreciate  such  an  officer  as  Sherman,  and  the 


AT   PITTSBURG   LANDING.  145 

manner  in  which  the  latter  forwarded  him  supplies  when 
he  moved  on  Fort  Donelson,  revealed  his  capacity,  so  that 
afterward,  when  he  took  position  at  Pittsburg  Landing, 
the  latter  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Fifth  Division. 

In  the  bloody  battle  that  followed,  he  showed  what 
the  peculiar  type  of  his  lunacy  was.  He  rose  at  once  to 
the  peril  of  that  occasion,  and  all  day  long  moved  like  a 
fabled  god  over  the  disastrous  field.  Clinging  to  his 
position  till  the  last  moment,  fighting  as  he  retired,  his 
orders  flying  like  lightning  in  every  direction,  and  he 
himself  galloping  incessantly  through  the  hottest  fire ; 
now  rallying  his  men,  now  planting  a  battery,  he  seemed 
omnipresent,  and  to  bear  a  charmed  life.  Horse  after 
horse  sunk  under  him;  he  himself  was  struck  again  and 
again ;  and  yet  he  not  only  kept  the  field,  but  blazed  like 
a  meteor  over  it.  At  noon  of  that  Sabbath  day,  he  was 
dismounted,  his  hand  in  a  sling,  and  bleeding,  giving 
directions  to  his  chief  of  artillery,  while  it  was  one  inces- 
sant crash  and  roar  all  around  him.  Suddenly  he  saw  to 
the  right,  his  men  giving  way  before  a  cloud  of  rebels.  "  I 
was  looking  for  that,"  he  exclaimed.  The  next  moment 
the  battery  he  had  been  placing  in  position  opened,  send- 
ing death  and  destruction  into  the  close-packed  ranks. 
The  rebel  commander,  glancing  at  the  battery,  ordered 
the  cavalry  to  charge  it.  Seeing  them  coming  down, 
Sherman  quickly  ordered  up  two  companies  of  infantry, 
which,  pouring  in  a  deadly  volley,  sent  them  to  the  right 
about  with  empty  saddles.  The  onset  was  arrested,  and 
our  troops  rallied  with  renewed  courage.  Thus  he  acted 
all  that  fearful  Sabbath  day.  As  Sheridan  was  the  rock 
that  saved  Rosecrans  at  Stone  river,  and  Thomas  the  one 
that  saved  him  at  Chickamauga,  so  Sherman  was  the  rock 
that  saved  Grant  at  Shiloh.  At  its  close,  his  old  legion  met 

10 


146  .         MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

him,  and  sent  up  three  cheers  at  the  sight  of  his  well 
remembered  form.  Rousseau,  in  speaking  of  his  conduct 
in  this  battle,  said,  "  No  man  living  could  surpass  him." 
General  Nelson,  a  few  days  before  his  death,  remarked, 
"  During  eight  hours,  the  fate  of  the  army  on  the  field  of 
Shiloh  depended  on  the  life  of  one  man;  if  General 
Sherman  had  fallen,  the  army  would  have  been  captured 
or  destroyed."  Grant  said,  "  To  his  individual  efforts,  I 
am  indebted  for  the  success  of  that  battle ;"  and  Halleck, 
in  his  despatch,  bore  this  unqualified  testimony:  "It  is 
the  unanimous  opinion  here,  that  Brigadier-General  W. 
T.  Sherman  saved  the  fortunes  of  the  day  on  the  6th  of 
April."  "  He  was  a  strong  man  in  the  high  places  of  the 
field,  and  hope  shone  in  him  like  a  pillar  of  fire  when.it  had 
gone  out  in  all  other  men."  The  next  day,  when  Buell's 
fresh  battalions  took  the  field,  Sherman  again  led  his 
battered  regiments  into  the  fight,  and  enacted  over  again 
the  heroic  deeds  of  the  day  before ;  for  as  Rousseau  said, 
he  "  fights  by  the  week."  Untiring  to  the  last,  he  pushed 
out  the  third  day,  after  the  victory,  and  whipped  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  taking  a  large  supply  of  ammunition. 

In  the  subsequent  advance  to  Corinth,  his  division 
bore  the  most  conspicuous  part,  and  was  the  first  to  enter 
the  deserted  works  of  the  enemy.  In  the  mean  time  he 
had  been  promoted  to  Major-General  of  Volunteers. 

He  could  now  laugh  at  the  slander  that  had  so  an- 
noyed him,  and  joke  of  it  publicly.  There  were  two 
General  Shermans  in  the  army  before  Corinth,  the  only 
difference  in  their  names  being  a  transposition  of  the 
initials  W.  T.  and  T.  W.  T.  W.  was  known  as  the  Port 
Royal  Sherman,  on  account  of  his  operations  there  after 
the  capture  of  the  place  by  Dupont  He  was  a  very 
unpopular  man  with  his  troops,  on  account  of  a  fretful 


ASSAULTS   VICKSBURG.  147 

peevish  disposition,  exhibiting  itself  not  only  in  worda, 
but  in  a  disagreeable,  nervous  manner.  He  was  equally 
unpopular  with  the  officers,  who  discussed  his  peculiari- 
ties freely.  One  day,  General  W.  T.  Sherman  was  call 
ing  on  Steadmari,  when  some  one  gave  a  ludicrous  account 
of  the  behavior  of  T.  W.  Sherman  on  a  certain  occasion, 
which  created  a  great  deal  of  merriment.  Sherman  join- 
ed in  it,  and  jokingly  remarked,  "  Oh,  that  is  the  crazy 
Sherman,  is  it?" 

On  the  20th  of  June,  he  advanced  and  took  Holly 
Springs,  and  broke  up  the  Mississippi  Central  railroad. 
Memphis  falling  into  our  possession,  Grant  placed  him  in 
command  of  it,  and  he,  by  his  energetic  manner,  put  a 
stop  to  the  contraband  trade  with  the  rebels  South,  and 
almost  wholly  cleared,  for  the  time  being,  his  district  of 
guerillas. 

Early  in  the  winter,  Grant  organized  his  first  expedi- 
tion against  Vicksburg.  His  plan  was  for  Sherman  to 
go  down  the  Mississippi,  plant  himself  suddenly  before 
the  fortifications,  and  carry  them  by  assault;  while  he 
himself,  proceeding  inland  by  railroad,  should  move  with 
equal  suddenness  on  Jackson,  some  forty  miles  or  more 
back  of  Vicksburg,  and  prevent  the  rebel  army  there  from 
reinforcing  the  latter  place. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  with  four  picked  divisions, 
Sherman,  in  a  vast  fleet  of  steamers,  set  sail  for  his  place 
of  destination.  Determined  that  it  should  be  no  Red 
River  cotton  expedition,  he  issued  an  order  at  the  start, 
declaring  it  was  purely  of  a  military  character,  and  he 
would  allow  no  private  interests  to  be  mixed  up  with  it 
"No  citizen,  male  or  female,"  he  said,  "would  be  allowed 
to  accompany  it,  unless  employed  as  part  of  a  crew  or 
servants  to  the  transports.  No  person  whatever,  citizen, 


148  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

officer,  or  sutler,  will  on  any  consideration  buy  or  deal  in 
cotton,  or  other  produce  of  the  country."  At  the  same 
time,  he  declared  that  any  one  making  reports  for  publi- 
cation would  be  treated  as  a  spy. 

He,  however,  had  hardly  got  afloat  down  the  river, 
when  the  shameful  surrender  of  Holly  Springs  brought 
Grant  to  a  halt,  and  thus  allowed  the  enemy  to  increase 
the  garrison  of  Vicksburg  to  any  strength  desired. 

Sherman,  ignorant  of  this,  kept  on,  and  disembark- 
ing on  the  26th  and  27th  of  December,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Yazoo,  at  once  ordered  a  general  advance  on  the 
city,  and  drove  the  enemy  to  his  inner  lines.  For  two 
days  he  now  pressed  the  place  at  different  points,  and  on 
the  29th  made  a  grand  assault  upon  it.  The  troops  be- 
haved with  great  gallantry,  charging  desperately  over 
bayous,  through  fallen  timber,  across  ditches  filled  with 
water,  and  through  abattis,  and  driving  the  enemy  from 
his  rifle  pits  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  on  which  the  city 
lay.  Blair's  brigade,  especially,  covered  itself  with  glory, 
losing  nearly  a  third  of  its  entire  number.  But  it  was 
of  no  use ;  it  was  a  slaughter  of  brave  men  without  re- 
sults, and  Sherman,  sending  in  a  flag  of  truce  asking  per- 
mission to  bury  his  dead,  abandoned  the  undertaking, 
and  finally  re-embarked  his  troops.  McClernand  now  ar- 
rived, and  took  chief  command ;  and  dividing  the  army 
into  two  corps,  with  Sherman  commanding  one,  proceeded 
up  the  Arkansas  Hiver  to  take  Arkansas  Post. 

What  the  condition  of  things  and  prospects  of  success 
were  at  the  time  this  expedition  against  Vicksburg  was 
undertaken  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  looking  at  it  in  the 
light  of  after  events,  it  seems  to  have  been  an  ill-judged 
affair.  Whether  Sherman  really  believed  when  he  made 
the  assault  there  was  any  reasonable  chance  of  success,  or 


COMMANDS    A    CORPS.  149 

whether  it  was  risked  because  he  felt  that  tl  ,e  effect  of  re* 
tiring  without  making  the  attempt  would  be  worse  than 
failure,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  But  we  strongly 
suspect  the  latter  was  the  ruling  motive. 

In  announcing  the  fact  of  his  being  superseded,  Sher- 
man exhorted  his  troops  to  give  the  same  cheerful  obe- 
dience to  their  new  commander  that  they  had  to  him ; 
and,  alluding  to  their  failure  to  take  Vicksburg,  said, 
"  Ours  was  but  a  part  of  a  combined  movement,  in  which 
others  were  to  assist.  We  were  in  time ;  unforeseen  con- 
tingencies must  have  delayed  the  others."  Seven  days 
after,  the  army  and  navy  combined  captured  Arkansas 
Post,  with  seven  thousand  prisoners  and  all  its  guns. 

Grant  now  commenced  his  great  and  eventually  suc- 
cessful expedition  against  Vicksburg,  in  which  Sherman 
commanded  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 

The  main  army  lay  comparatively  idle  during  the  long 
weeks  that  the  gunboats  were  attempting,  by  inland  navi- 
gation, through  canals,  bayous  and  narrow  streams,  to 
get  in  rear  of  the  stronghold. 

But  in  the  last  attempt  through  Yazoo  Pass,  Sherman, 
with  a  land  force,  acted  in  concert  with  Porter's  fleet.  It 
was  well  he  did,  for  the  Admiral,  after  days  of  unprece- 
dented toil,  carrying  his  boats  along  narrow  water  courses, 
where  no  craft  larger  than  a  row  boat  was  ever  before 
seen,  at  length  got  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Yazoo 
and  open  sailing,  when  the  enemy,  by  felling  trees  across 
the  stream  before  and  behind  him,  threatened  to  shut  him 
up  entirely  in  the  wilderness,  and  thus  secure  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  fleet.  In  this  dilemma  he  attempted  to  force 
his  way  back  ;  but  sharpshooters  lined  the  banks,  and 
the  number  of  the  enemy  constantly  increased,  while  he 
could  hear  nothing  of  Sherman's  brigade,  that  was  toil- 


150  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

ing  forward,  swallowed  up  somewhere  in  the  woods  and 
swamps.  The  latter,  however,  heard  the  heavy  firing 
north  of  him,  and  guided  by  the  sound,  pushed  on  till  at 
length  the  head  of  his  weary  column  stood  on  the  tangled 
banks  of  the  sluggish  stream.  A  shout  went  up  at  the 
glad  sight,  and  Porter  said  :  "  I  do  not  know  when  I  felt 
more  pleased  to  see  that  gallant  officer,  for  without  great 
loss  we  could  not  have  performed  the  arduous  work  of 
clearing  out  the  obstructions."  If  Sherman  could  have 
arrived  two  days  sooner,  the  fleet  would  doubtless  have 
reached  the  Yazoo,  and  Vicksburg  been  taken  in  a  very 
different  way  than  it  eventually  was. 

When  Grant  finally  took  the  bold  resolution  of  run- 
ning the  rebel  batteries  with  his  gunboats  and  transports 
to  meet  his  army  below,  marching  inland,  Sherman's  corps 
was  left  behind,  at  first  to  wait  for  the  completion  of  the 
roads,  and  then  to  make  a  feint  on  Haynes'  Bluff,  while 
Grant,  with  McClernand's  corps,  attacked  Grand  Gulf. 
This  was  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  Pemberton  at 
Vicksburg  from  sending  reinforcements  to  the  latter  place. 
Sherman,  embarking  his  troops  on  transports,  and  ac- 
companied by  the  gunboats,  proceeded  at  once  to  the 
scene  of  his  former  discomfiture,  and  on  the  29th  of  April, 
stood  in  battle  array  before  the  place,  while  the  gunboats 
kept  up  a  fierce  bombardment  upon  it.  He  continued  to 
manoeuvre  before  it  day  after  day,  until  a  messenger  ar- 
rived from  Grant,  announcing  the  fall  of  Grand  Gulf, 
and  directing  him  to  hurry  forward  with  his  corps  and 
join  him  at  that  place.  Re-embarking  his  troops,  he  set 
sail  for  Young's  Point,  and  next  morning  started  across 
the  country.  In  three  days,  over  horrible  roads,  he 
reached  Hard  Times,  opposite  Grand  Gulf,  a  distance  *of 
sixty- three  miles.  That  night  and  next  day  he  crossed 


SWIFT   MARCHING.  151 

the  Mississippi,  and  the  day  after,  May  8th,  marched 
eighteen  miles  to  Hankinson's  Ferry,  on  the  Big  Black. 
Grant  was  already  on  the  move  for  Jackson.  Pushing 
on,  he  approached  the  latter  place  in  a  torrent  of 
rain,  just  in  time  to  hear  the  thunder  of  McPherson's 
guns  in  the  advance,  as  he  was  charging  the  enemy. 
After  the  capture  of  the  capital  he  was  left  there  to  de- 
stroy the  public  property,  while  the  rest  of  the  army 
wheeled  back  towards  Vicksburg. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  he  received  a  message 
from  Grant,  stating  that  the  enemy  was  advancing  on 
him  from  Edward's  Depot,  and  directing  him  to  put  in 
motion  one  of  his  divisions  at  once,  and  follow  with  the 
others  as  soon  as  the  work  of  destruction  in  Jackson  was 
complete.  Steele's  division  was  hurried  off  in  two  hours, 
and  two  hours  later  Tuttle's  followed  on,  and  before  night 
Sherman  with  his  whole  corps  was  twenty  miles  from  the 
place,  pushing  on  in  a  forced  march  to  the  help  of  his 
chief.  This  was  unparalleled  marching,  and  filled  even 
Grant  with  admiration.  Doing  but  little  of  the  fighting 
along  the  Big  Black,  he  pressed  forward,  and  on  the  18th 
the  head  of  the  column  reached  the  Benton  road,  and  he 
commanded  the  Yazoo ;  interposing  a  superior  force  be- 
tween the  enemy  at  Vicksburg  and  his  forts  on  that  river. 
Resting  here  till  the  column  could  close  up,  and  Grant 
arrive,  he  then  extended  his  lines,  till,  on  the  19th,  they 
rested  on  the  Mississippi,  with  Vicksburg  in  plain  sight 
He  participated  in  the  grand  assault  on  the  22d,  losing 
some  six  hundred  men.  He  continued  to  hold  the  light 
during  the  long  siege  that  followed,  carrying  his  lines 
steadily  nearer  the  doomed  place. 

-  Johnston,   in  the  meantime,   having  concentrated  a 
large   force  at  Jackson,   at  length  seriously  threatened 


152  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Grant's  rear,  and  he,  having  determined  to  assault  Vicks- 
burg  on  the  6th  of  July,  previously  notified  Sherman  of 
the  fact,  and  directed  him,  if  it  was  successful,  to  be  in 
readiness  to  march  at  once  and  attack  the  former.  The 
place  surrendered  two  days  earlier  than  the  date  men- 
tioned, but  Sherman  was  all  ready  to  march  even  then, 
and  leaving  to  others  the  glory  and  excitement  of  march- 
ing into  Vicksburg,  wheeled  about,  and  passing  quickly 
over  the  intervening  space  of  forty-five  miles,  suddenly 
confronted  the  rebel  leader  in  Jackson.  The  latter,  under 
the  cover  of  a  dense  fog,  made  a  sudden  assault  on  his  lines, 
but  he  could  not  take  this  sleepless  leader  by  surprise,  and 
being  driven  back,  hastily  evacuated  the  city.  Sherman 
now  spread  devastation  on  every  side,  destroying  bridges, 
railroads,  and  other  valuable  property  for  miles  around. 
In  speaking  of  his  conduct,  Grant  says:  "The  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  and  last  capture  of  Jackson,  and  dispersion 
of  Johnston's  army,  entitle  General  Sherman  to  more 
credit  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to  earn." 
Thus  Providence  was  bringing  these  two  men  closer  and 
closer  together,  and  training  them  for  the  great  work  be- 
fore them.  ?j-; 

Sherman's  army  now  rested  for  awhile,  but  Rose- 
crans'  defeat  at  Chickamauga,  in  September,  by  which 
Chattanooga  was  placed  in  great  peril,  caused  Grant  to 
telegraph  the  former  to  despatch  a  division  at  once  to  his 
help.  He  received  it  on  the  22d  of  September,  and  by 
four  o'clock  the  division  was  off.  The  next  day  he  re- 
ceived another,  directing  him  to  follow  with  his  whole 
army.  In  three  days  more  the  army'  was  working  its 
slow,  tedious  way  up  the  Mississippi  in  transports.  The 
water  was  low,  and  fuel  scarce,  and  the  troops  had  often 
to  land  and  gather  fence  rails  and  haul  wood  from  the  in- 


A   TOUCHING   LETTER.  /53 

terior  to  keep  up  steam,  so  that  he  did  not  reach  Memphis 
till  the  beginning  of  October. 

But  while  he  was  fulfilling  his  orders  with  such  alac- 
rity, and  pushing  on  his  troops  with  such  energy,  his  heart 
was  heavy  with  grief.  The  tread  of  his  victorious  col- 
umns, and  the  flaunting  of  his  proud  banners,  no  longer 
brought  light  to  his  eyes,  nor  awakened  the  pride  of  the 
warrior;  for  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the  chieftain  had 
sunk  before  the  feelings  of  a  father.  His  beautiful  boy, 
that  bore  his  name,  was  being  wafted  mournfully  up  the 
Mississippi  a  corpse,  in  charge  of  his  weeping  mother. 
While  lying  along  the  pestiferous  banks  of  the  Big  Black 
Hiver,  his  wife  and  family  visited  him,  and  one  child,  in 
the  malarious  atmosphere,  sickened  and  died.  On  his 
first  arrival  in  camp,  he  became  a  great  pet  in  the  Thir- 
teenth Regular  Infantry — Sherman's  old  regiment,  that 
he  commanded  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run — which  made 
him  a  sergeant,  and  heaped  on  him  all  those  little  testi- 
monials of  affection,  which  soldiers  know  so  well  how  to 
bestow.  This  kindness  had  touched  Sherman's  heart,  and 
now  at  midnight,  as  he  sat  in  his  room  at  Memphis,  and 
thought  of  his  little  boy  pale  and  lifeless,  far  away,  floating 
sadly  up  the  Mississippi,  this  kindness  all  came  back  on 
him,  and,  bowed  with  grief,  he  sat  down  and  wrote  the 
following  touching  letter  to  the  regiment : 

MEMPHIS,  TENN.,  Oct.  4th,  Midaight 

Copt.  C.  C.  Smith,  Commanding  Battalion  Thirteenth  Infantry : 

MY  DEAE  FEIEND  :  I  cannot  sleep  to-night  till  I  record  an  expression 
of  the  deep  feelings  of  my  heart,  to  you,  and  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  battalion  for  their  kind  behaviour  to  my  poor  child.  I  realize  that  you 
all  feel  for  my  family  the  attachment  of  kindred,  and  I  assure  you  of  full 
reciprocity.  Consistent  with  a  sense  of  duty  to  my  profession  and  office,  I 
could  not  leave  my  post,  and  sent  for  my  family  to  come  to  me  in  that  fatal 
climate,  and  behold  the  result !  The  child  that  bore  my  name,  and  in  whose 


154  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

future  I  reposed  with  more  confidence  than  I  did  in  my  own  plans  of  life, 
now  floats  a  mere  corpse,  seeking  a  grave  in  a  distant  land,  with  a  weeping 
mother,  brother,  and  sisters  clustered  around  him.  But  for  myself  I  can  ask 
no  sympathy.  On  I  must  go  to  meet  a  soldier's  fate,  or  see  my  country  rise 
superior  to  all  faction,  till  its  flag  is  adored  and  respected  by  ourselves,  and 
all  the  powers  of  the  earth. 

But  my  poor  Willy  was,  or  thought  he  was,  a  sergeant  of  the  Thirteenth. 
I  have  seen  his  eyes  brighten,  and  his  heart  beat,  as  he  beheld  the  battalion 
under  arms,  and  asked  me  if  they  were  not  real  soldiers.  Child  as  he  was, 
he  had  the  enthusiasm,  the  pure  love  of  truth,  honor,  and  love  of  country 
which  should  animate  all  soldiers.  God  only  knows  why  he  should  die  thus 
young.  He  is  dead,  but  will  not  be  forgotten  till  those  who  knew  him  in 
life  have  followed  him  to  the  same  mysterious  end. 

Please  convey  to  the  battalion  my  heartfelt  thanks,  and  assure  each  and 
all,  that  if  in  after  years  they  call  on  me  or  mine,  and  mention  that  they 
were  of  the  Thirteenth  regulars,  when  poor  Willy  was  a  sergeant,  they  will 
have  a  key  to  the  affections  of  my  family,  that  will  open  all  that  it  has — that 
we  will  share  with  them  our  last  blanket,  our  last  crust. 

Your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHEEMAN,  Maj.-Gen. 

Nothing  can  be  more  touching  than  this  letter.  How 
it  lays  open  his  inmost  heart  to  his  soldiers !  Ordinary 
expressions  of  courtesy  or  acknowledgments  of  gratitude 
would  not  answer.  Their  sympathy  had  made  them  for  a 
time  his  equals,  and  he  writes  to  them  as  friends — the 
dearest  of  friends,  ttecause  friends  of  his  boy.  Their  love 
for  him  had  bound  them  to  him  by  a  tenderer  chord  than 
long  and  faithful  service  in  the  field.  Ah,  what  a  heart 
this  man,  this  rough  man,  as  many  termed  him,  had ! 
No  man  could  write  that  letter,  in  whose  heart  did  not 
dwell  the  gentlest,  noblest  impulses  of  our  nature.  The 
brave  Thirteenth  will  cherish  that  letter  while  life  lasts, 
and  transmit  it  as  an  heir-loom  to  their  children.  These 
sudden  gleams  of  tenderness  and  sympathy,  shooting 
athwart  the  stern  and  turbulent  scenes  of  war,  like  bursts 
of  sunshine  along  a  stormy  sea,  reveal  and  assert  our 
common  brotherhood  and  destiny. 


SERGEANT   WILLIE.  155 

The  regiment  ordered  a  marble  monument  for  their 
little  sergeant,  and  had  inscribed  on  it,  "  Our  little  ser- 
geant, Willie,  from  the  First  Battalion  Thirteenth  United 
States  Infantry." 

"  In  his  spirit  there  was  no  guile." 


CHAPTER  VIL 

CHATTANOOGA. 

SHERMAN'S  MARCH  FROM  THE  MISSISSIPPI  TO  CHAITANOOGA — HIS  ARRIVAL 
— ESTABLISHES  HIMSELF  ON  MISSIONARY  RIDGE — THE  MORNING  BEFORE 

THE  BATTLE — PICTURESQUE  VIEW — OPENING  OF  THE  BATTLE — THE  TIC- 
TORY — PURSUIT — ORDERED  TO  MARCH  NORTH  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  KNOX- 
VILLE— STATE  OF  HIS  ARMY — HEROIC  DEVOTION — SHERMAN  AT  VICKS- 
BURG — THE  EXPEDITION  INTO  CENTRAL  MISSISSIPPI — ITS  OBJECT  AND 
CAUSE  OF  ITS  ABANDONMENT — PLACED  OVER  THE  MISSISSIPPI  DEPART- 
MENT— PLANS  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN — ITS  ORIGINALITY — THE  NUMBER 
AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HIS  FORCES. 

WE  cannot  follow  Sherman  in  his  long  march  of  three 
hundred  miles  or  more  across  the  country  to  Chattanooga. 
At  first  he  was  ordered  to  repair  the  railroad  as  he  ad- 
vanced, so  as  to  bring  up  his  supplies,  but  Grant,  who 
had  taken  command  in  person  at  Chattanooga,  saw  that 
this  was  slow  work,  and  time  pressing,  sent  word  to  cut 
loose  from  the  railroads,  and  living  on  the  country,  push 
on  as  fast  as  his  troops  could  march.  He  did  so,  and  on 
the  15th  of  November,  rode  into  Chattanooga,  and  was 
welcomed  with  delight  by  Grant.  His  army  was  not  yet 
across  the  Tennessee,  and  the  latter  directed  him  to  get 
them  over  at  once,  and  march  them  up  beyond  the  place, 
and  secure  a  lodgment  on  the  extremity  of  Missionary 
Ridge,  where  it  abutted  on  the  river.  The  troops,  foot- 
sore, and  many  of  them  shoeless,  needed  rest  after  this 
long  and  terrible  march,  and  Sherman  knew  it.  To  ask 


ON  THE  ENEMY'S  FLANK.  157 

them  at  once  to  go  into  battle  was  making  a  heavy  de- 
mand, but  the  enemy's  batteries  had  been  planted  in 
shelling  distance  of  the  town,  and  provisions  were  scarce, 
so  that  time  for  rest  could  not  be  given.  As  he  rode 
through  Grant's  encampments,  the  need  of  haste  was  ap- 
parent, and  he  says:  "I  saw  enough  of  the  condition  of 
men  and  animals  in  Chattanooga  to  inspire  rne  with  re- 
newed energy." 

In  the  meantime,  directing  Ewing's  division  to  make 
a  demonstration  on  Lookout  Mountain,  as  ordered  by 
Grant,  he  jumped  into  a  rowboat,  and  pulling  down  to 
his  army,  put  it  in  motion. 

But  the  roads  had  become  almost  impassable  with  the 
heavy  rains,  and  told  heavily  on  the  over-exhausted  troops. 
Still,  by  laboring  night  and  day,  Sherman  succeeded  in 
getting,  by  the  23d,  three  divisions  up  the  river,  concealed 
behind  the  hills  opposite  Chickamauga  Creek.  At  the 
same  time,  he  had  concealed  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
pontoons,  in  a  stream  near  by,  which,  after  dark,  were 
floated  down  into  the  Tennessee,  full  of  soldiers ;  and  by 
dawn  the  next  day  eight  thousand  men  were  on  the  other 
shore,  and  had  thrown  up  a  rifle  trench  as  a  tete  du  pont. 
A  bridge  thirteen  hundred  feet  long  was  immediately  be- 
gun, and  by  one  o'clock  was  shaking  to  the  tread  of  the 
hurrying  columns.  A  drizzling  rain  was  falling  at  the 
time,  which,  with  the  low  clouds  hanging  along  the 
heights,  concealed  the  movement. 

By  three  o'clock  the  astonished  enemy  found  an  army 
hanging  along  the  sides  of  Missionary  Bidge,  on  his  ex- 
treme left.  A  feeble  attempt  was  made  to  repel  the  ad- 
vance, but  the  artillery,  dragged  up  the  steep  ascent,  scat- 
tered the  enemy,  and  night  found  Sherman  securely 
planted.  A  second  ridge,  farther  in,  was  the  great  point 


158  MAJOR-GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

aimed  at,  and  the  assault  on  this  was  deferred  till  morn- 
ing light  would  reveal  the  rebel  position. 

While  this  was  going  on,  Hooker  had  made  his  gal 
lant  assault  on  Lookout  Mountain,  and  carrying  it,  open- 
ed his  communications  direct  with  Chattanooga. 

Grant  now  had  his  army  where  he  wanted  it,  and  de- 
termined the  next  day  to  settle  the  question  whether 
Chattanooga  was  to  be  held  or  abandoned.  During  the 
night  it  cleared  off,  and  a  sharp  autumnal  frost  rendered 
the  air  of  that  high  region  still  clearer,  and  gave  a  darker 
blue  to  the  deep  vault  of  heaven.  The  soldiers  crowned 
the  hills  with  camp  fires,  revealing  to  the  enemy  their  po- 
sition, as  well  as  showing  to  their  friends  in  Chattanooga 
the  important  point  that  had  been  gained.  At  midnight 
a  staff  officer  of  Grant  reached  Sherman  with  directions 
to  attack  at  daybreak,  saying  that  Thomas  would  also  at- 
tack "early  in  the  day."  Sherman  turned  in  for  a  short 
nap,  but  before  daylight  he  was  in  the  saddle,  and  riding 
the  whole  length  of  his  lines,  examined  well  his  position 
and  that  of  the  enemy.  By  the  dim  light  he  saw  that  a 
valley  or  gorge  lay  between  him  and  the  next  hill,  which 
was  very  steep,  and  that  the  farther  point  was  held  by  the 
enemy  with  a  breastwork  of  logs  and  earth  in  front.  A 
still  higher  hill  commanded  this  with  a  plunging  fire, 
which  was  also  crowded  with  the  foe.  He  could  not  see 
the  bottom  of  the  gorge  below,  and  was  not  able  to  com- 
plete his  preparations  so  as  to  attack  by  daylight,  as  he 
had  been  ordered.  General  Corse  was  to  lead  the  ad- 
vance, and  before  he  had  fully  marshalled  his  forces,  the 
sun  arose  in  dazzling  brightness  over  the  eastern  heights, 
and  flooded  the  scene  with  beauty.  His  beams  were  sent 
back  from  tens  of  thousands  of  bayonet  points,  and  flash- 
ed athwart  long  rows  of  cannon,  while  the  increasing 


ASSAULTS   THE    ENEMY.  159 

light  brought  out  in  a  grand  panoramic  picture,  Chat- 
tanooga resting  quietly  below  in  its  amphitheatre  of  hills. 
Banners  waved  along  the  heights,  and  rose  over  Grant's 
encampment  in  the  distance,  and  all  was  bright  and 
beautiful.  Here  and  there  a  bugle-call  and  drum-beat 
gave  increased  interest  to  the  scene.  But  its  beauty  was 
soon  to  change — those  summits  now  baptized  in  golden 
light  were  to  be  wrapped  in  smoke  and  heave  to  volcanic 
fires,  and  strong  columns  stagger  bleeding  along  their 
sides. 

Sherman  at  length  being  ready,  Corse's  bugles  sounded 
the  "  forward,"  and  the  assaulting  regiments  moved  stead- 
ily down  the  hill,  across  the  intervening  valley,  and  up 
the  opposing  slope.  Morgan  L.  Smith  on  the  left  of  the 
ridge,  and  Colonel  Loomis  abreast  of  the  Tunnel,  drew  a 
portion  of  the  enemy's  fire  away  from  the  assaulting 
column,  which  having  closed  in  a  death-grapple  with  the 
foe,  now  advanced  its  banners,  and  now  receded,  but  never 
yielding  the  position  it  had  at  first  gained.  Grant  could 
see  the  struggle  from  his  position  at  Chattanooga,  and  at 
one  time  observing  two  Brigades  give  way  in  disorder, 
thought  Sherman  was  repulsed ;  but  it  was  not  so.  Corse, 
Loomis  and  Smith,  stuck  to  the  enemy  with  a  tenacity 
that  gave  him  not  a  moment's  rest.  Sherman's  position 
not  only  threatened  the  rebel  right  flank,  but  his  rear  and 
stores  at  Chickamauga  station ;  hence  the  persistency  of 
his  attack  alarmed  Bragg,  and  he  steadily  accumulated 
forces  against  him,  that  rendered  an  advance  on  Sher- 
man's part  impossible.  Hour  after  hour  the  contest 
raged  with  terrible  ferocity,  and  the  flaming  cloud- wrap- 
ped heights  appeared  to  the  lookers-on  at  Chattanooga, 
like  a  volcano  in  full  fierce  action.  Grant  had  told  Sher- 
man, that  Thomas  would  attack  early  in  the  day,  but 


MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

the  latter  watched  in  vain  for  the  movement.  The  gal 
lant  Corse  had  been  borne  wounded  from  the  field,  and 
Grant,  fearful  that  Sherman  was  being  too  heavily  press- 
ed, sent  over  to  his  help  Baird's  division ;  but  Sherman 
sent  it  back,  saying  he  had  all  the  troops  that  he  wanted. 
Thus,  he  fought  the  battle  alone"  all  the  forenoon,  and 
still  the  banners  drooped  lazily  along  their  staffs  in  front 
of  Chattanooga.  He  began  to  grow  impatient.  In  the 
bright  clear  air  he  could  look  down  from  his  position  on 
the  "  amphitheatre  of  Chattanooga,"  but  could  discern  no 
signs  of  the  promised  movement.  Now  and  then  a  soli- 
tary cannon  shot  alone  told  that  the  army  there  was 
alive ;  but  beyond,  toward  Lookout,  where  Hooker  was 
trying  to  advance,  the  heavy  reverberations  of  artillery  and 
dull  sound  of  musketry  showed  that  he  was  pushing  the 
enemy.  Thus  matters  stood  at  three  o'clock,  when,  said 
Sherman,  "I  saw  column  after  column  of  the  enemy 
streaming  toward  me,  gun  after  gun  poured  its  concentric 
shot  on  us  from  every  hill  and  spur  that  gave  a  view  of 
any  part  of  the  ground  held  by  us."  The  attack  of 
Thomas  which  was  to  be  "  eany  in  the  day.11  was  unac- 
countably delayed,  and  what  could  it  all  mean,  was  the 
anxious  enquiry  he  put  to  himself.  One  thing  was 
plain — his  exhausted  columns  could  not  long  stand  this 
accumulation  of  numbers  and  concentration  of  artillery. 
Grant,  too,  was  anxious.  The  appearance  of  Hooker's 
column,  moving  north  along  the  ridge  on  the  other  flank  of 
the  enemy,  was  to  be  the  signal  of  assault  on  the  centre ; 
but  hour  after  hour  passed  by  and  no  advancing  banners 
were  seen.  The  latter  had  been  detained  in  building  a 
bridge  across  Chattanooga  creek. 

At  length,  he  could  wait  no  longer,  and  hearing  that 
Hooker  was  well  advanced,  and  seeing  the  centre  weak- 


ROUT   OF   THE    ENEMY.  161 

ened,  to  overthrow  Sherman,  he  ordered  the  assault  to  be 
made.  Sherman,  whose  glass  was  scarcely  for  a  moment 
turned  from  the  centre,  now  saw  with  relief  a  "white  line 
of  musketry  fire  in  front  of  Orchard  Knob,  extending 
further  right  and  left  and  on."  aWe  could  hear,"  he 
says,  "only  a  faint  echo  of  sound;  but  enough  was  seen 
to  satisfy  me  that  General  Thomas  was  moving  on  the 
centre."  That  white  line  of  smoke  kept  advancing,  till 
it  streaked  the  mountain  side.  "  At  length  it  disappeared 
behind  a  spur  of  the  hill,  and  could  be  no  longer  seen, 
and  it  was  not  until  night  closed,  that  I  knew  the  troops 
in  Chattanooga  had  swept  across  Missionary  Ridge  and 
broken  the  enemy's  centre."  As  soon  as  he  had  ascer- 
tained it,  his  columns  were  started  in  pursuit.  General 
Morgan  L.  Smith  being  ordered  to  feel  the  Tunnel,  and 
see  what  force  was  there  ;  found  it  "vacant  save  by 
the  dead  and  wounded  of  our  own  and  the  enemy's 
commingled." 

The  next  morning  at  eleven  o'clock,  Sherman  ap- 
proached the  depot  to  find  it  a  scene  of  desolation.  "  Corn- 
meal  and  corn  in  huge  burning  piles,  broken  wagons,  aban- 
doned caissons  and  guns,  burned  carriages,  pieces  of  pon- 
toons, and  all  manner  of  things  burning  and  broken,"  at- 
tested the  ravages  of  war.  Along  the  road  strewed  with' 
the  wrecks  of  the  fight,  he  pressed  on  till  night,  when  just 
as  he  emerged  from  a  miry  swamp,  he  came  upon  the  en- 
emy's rear  guard.  A  sharp  contest  followed,  but  the  night 
closed  in  so  dark  that  he  could  not  move  forward.  Here 
in  the  gloom  Grant  joined  him.  The  next  morning  ho 
continued  the  pursuit ;  but  finding  the  roads  filled  with 
all  the  troops  44they  could  accommodate,"  he  halted  and 
turned  to  the  east  to  break  up  the  communications  be- 
tween Bragg,  and  Longstreet  now  before  Knoxville.. 
11 


162  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Having  finished  the  work  assigned  him,  he  was  expecting 
rest,  when  on  the  30th,  just  as  he  had  entered  Charleston, 
a  letter  was  handed  him  from  Grant,  informing  him  that 
Burnside  was  completely  invested  at  Knoxville,  and  had 
provisions  only  to  last  three  days  longer,  and  direct- 
ing him  to  move  at  once  to  his  relief.  What!  after  a 
march  of  four  hundred  miles,  and  a  fierce  battle,  and  clays 
of  pursuit,  now  to  make  a  forced  march  of  eighty-four 
miles  in  winter  over  a  broken  country.  It  was  a  terrible 
order,  and  Sherman  felt  it  to  be  so.  "  Seven  days  before," 
says  he,- "we  had  left  our  camp  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tennessee  with  two  days'  rations,  without  a  change  of 
clothing,  stripped  for  the  fight,  with  but  a  single  blanket 
or  coat  per  man — from  myself  to  the  private.  Of  course 
we  then  had  no  provisions  save  what  we  gathered  by  the 
road,  and  were  ill  supplied  for  such  a  march.  But  we 
learned  that  twelve  thousand  of  our  fellow  soldiers  were 
beleaguered  in  the  mountains  of  Knoxville,  eighty-four 
miles  distant,  that  they  needed  relief,  and  must  have  it  in 
three  days.  This  was  enough,  and  it  had  to  be  done." 
Yes,  it  had  to  be  done;  but  it  was  hard  that  it  must  be 
.done  by  that  weary  army. 

Kapidly  gathering  his  forces  together,  he  the  next 
•clay  but  one,  moved  rapidly  off  toward  Loudori,  twenty- 
six  miles  distant.  By  dark,  Howard  had  reached  it; 
but;  the  bridge  was  gone,  and  he  was  compelled  to  turn 
east  to  find  a  place  for  crossing.  Delay  was  now  inevi- 
table ;  but  Burnside  must  have  notice,  and  that  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  that  he  was  approaching;  so,  that  night  he 
sent  forward  his  aid  to  Colonel  Long,  commanding  the 
cavalry,  to  explain  the  state  of  affairs  to  him,  and  direct 
him  to  pick  out  at  once  his  best  men  and  horses,  and 
ride  for  life  till  he  reached  Knoxville.  "  The  roads  were 


RELIEF   OP   BURNSIDE.  163 

villainous ;"  but  before  daybreak  the  gallant  Colonel  was 
off,  and  pressing  on  through  mire  and  wet,  across  streams 
and  over  mountains,  he  the  next  night  reached  Knox- 
villc  and  the  clatter  of  his  horses'  hoofs  through  the 
streets,  bore  the  welcome  tidings  to  Burnside,  that  Sher- 
man was  marching  to  his  relief. 

The  latter  diverged  to  Morgantown,  where  his  maps 
represented  the  river  as  shallow  enough  to  be  forded,  but 
he  found  the  stream  chin-deep  and  the  water  freezing.  A 
bridge,  therefore,  had  to  be  built,  over  1,200  feet  long,  but 
they  had  no  tools  except  axes,  spades  and  picks.  Gen. 
Wilson,  howjsver,  went  to  work,  and  using  the  houses  of 
the  place  to  make  trestles  and  crib-work,  he,  by  the 
night  of  the  4th,  had  a  bridge  completed.  But  the  next 
night  a  courier  arrived  from  Burnside,  stating  that  Long- 
street  had  raised  the  siege,  and  was  moving  off  towards 
Virginia.  Hearing  that  Sherman  was  advancing,  he 
abandoned  the  place  just  as  he  thought  it  was  about  to  fall 
into  his  hands.  Sherman  now  ordered  his  tired  army  to 
,halt  and  rest,  and  sending  on  Granger  with  his  two  di- 
visions, he  himself  rode  on  to  Knoxville  and  inspected 
the  fortifications.  He  then  moved  his  army  back  to 
Chattanooga  by  easy  marches, 

Sherman  might  well  be  proud  of  the  Fifteenth 
corps,  and  he  says,  "I  must  do  justice  to  my  com- 
mand for  the  patience,  cheerfulness,  and  courage  which 
officers  and  men  have  displayed  throughout,  in  battles, 
on  the  march,  and  in  camp.  For  long  periods  with- 
out regular  rations  or  supplies  of  any  kind  they  have 
marched  through  mud  and  over  rocks,  sometimes  bare- 
footed, without  a  murmur,  without  a  moment's  rest 
After  a  march  of  over  four  hundred  miles  without 
stop  for  three  successive  nights,  we  crossed  the  Tennessee, 


164  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

fought  our  part  of  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  pursued  the 
enemy  out  of  Tennessee,  and  then  turned  more  than  one 
hundred  miles  north  and  compelled  Longstreet  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Knoxville."  He  says  futelher,  "  I  cannot 
speak  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  without  a  seeming 
vanity,  but  as  I  am  no  longer  its  commander  I  assert  there 
is  no  better  body  of  soldiers  in  America  than  it,  or  who 
have  done  more  or  better  service."  This  was  true,  and 
Sherman's  whole  course  from  the  time  he  had  left  Mem- 
phis, had  been  a  miracle  of  marching  and  fighting  and 
endurance. 

In  January  Sherman  was  again  at  Yicksburg.  While 
here  he  wrote  a  long  and  able  letter  on  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  disloyal  people  and  a  conquered  territory,  which 
shows  that  he  knew  how  to  handle  the  pen  as  well  as  the 
sword. 

At  the  close  of  the  month  he  organized  the  expedition 
into  Central  Mississippi,  which  caused  so  much  excite- 
ment at  the  time,  North  and  South.  It  was  reported  that 
he  had  destroyed  his  communications  behind  him,  and 
struck  off  into  the  heart  of  the  country,  while  no  one  knew 
his  destination. 

With  about  20,000  infantry  and  1,200  cavalry  he 
set  out  from  Vicksburg  on  the  3rd  of  February,  and 
pushing  east,  crossed  the  entire  State  of  Mississippi  to 
Meridian.  Smith,  with  8,000  cavalry,  was  to  leave 
Memphis  on  the  1st,  and  join  him  at  this  place,  but  he  did 
not  start  till  the  llth,  and  was  then  defeated  and  driven 
back.  Sherman's  design  was  to  cut  Mobile  off  from 
Johnston,  who  lay  in  front  of  Grant,  break  up  Folk's 
army  in  his  own  front,  and  then,  if  possible,  turn  down 
on  Mobile,  at  the  gates  of  which  Farragut  was  at 
that  time  thundering.  The  defeat  of  Smith,  however, 


,      THE    ATLANTA   CAMPAIGN.  165 

broke  up  this  part  of  the  plan  ;  and  he  was  compelled  to 
take  his  backward  march  to  Vicksburg,  which  he  reach- 
ed in  safety. 

His  sphere  of  action  was  now  to  be  enlarged.  Grant 
being  appointed  Lieutenant-General  in  March,  the  de- 
partment of  the  Mississippi,  composed  of  the  departments 
of  the  Ohio,  Cumberland,  Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  was 
given  to  him.  Under  him  were  McPherson,  Hooker, 
Thomas,  Howard,  Hurlbut  and  Logan,  strong  men  all, 
and  forming  a  group  of  subordinates,  the  superior  of 
which  never  gathered  under  one  commander. 

Now  the  preparations  for  the  two  grand  movements 
commenced,  which  were  to  end  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
rebellion.  'Grant,  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was 
to  move  on  Lee  and  Richmond,  and  Sherman  on  John- 
ston and  Atlanta. 

The  two  campaigns,  however,  as  before  mentioned, 
were  not  alike.  Grant  had  not  half  the  distance  to  go  of 
Sherman,  and  could  shift  his  base  at  any  moment,  which 
he  did,  first  to  Fredericksburg,  then  to  the  Pamunkey 
and  finally  to  the  James  river.  The  latter,  on  the  con- 
trary, had  a  single  base,  with  which  he  must  keep  con- 
nected by  a  solitary  line  of  railroad,  with  cavalry  swarm- 
ing on  both  flanks,  watching  to  destroy  it,  arid  thus  secure 
his  overthrow.  No  such  deep  operations  with  a  large 
army  had  ever  before  been  attempted,  and  it  was  very 
problematical  if  this  one ,  could  be  successful.  At  all 
events,  it  was  generally  thought  that  a  second  army 
would  be  needed  to  hold  this  long  line  of  railway. 

He  asked  for  a  hundred  thousand  men,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pieces  of  artillery.  He  started  with  this 
number,  minus  twelve  hundred,  and  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty-four  pieces  of  artillery.  The  army  was  divided 


166  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

as  follows  :  The  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under  Thomas; 
was  composed  of  sixty  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-three  men,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  guns ; 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  McPherson  commanding,  twenty- 
four  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  men,  and 
ninety-six  guns ;  Army  of  the  Ohio,  Schofield,  thirteen 
thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-nine  men,  and  twenty* 
eight  guns. 


t 


ABBREVIATIONS  &G 

™      .THOMAS 

.MAC  PHEftSOtt 


MAP  OF  THE  ATALANTA  CAMPAIGN 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN. 

SHERMAN'S  FORESIGHT  IN  PREPARING  FOR  CONTINGENCIES — FLANKS  DALTON — 
BATTLE  OF  KESACA — DEFEAT  OF  THE  ENEMY — THE  PURSUIT — CAPTURE  OP 
ROME— FIGHT  AT  DALLAS — FLANKING  OF  ALLATOONA — A  SECOND  BASE  ESTAB- 
LISHED— THE  KENESAW  MOUNTAINS — STRENGTH  OF  THE  POSITION — DESPERATE 
ASSAULT  OF — DEFEAT — FLANKING  AGAIN  RESORTED  TO — CHATTAHOOCHEE 

RIVER  REACHED — VIEW  OF  THE  COUNTRY — TERRIBLE  ASSAULT   ON   THOMAS 

HOOD  RETIRES  TO  HIS  INNER  WORKS — DESPERATE  ATTACK  ON  MCPHERSON — 
HEAVY  REBEL  LOSSES — CAPTURE  OF  BTONEMAN — CUTTING  THE  REBEL  LINES 
OF  COMMUNICATION — ATTACK  ON  HOWARD — THE  ARMY  SWUNG  ROUND  THE 

CITY  TO  THE  MACON  ROAD— FIGHT  AT   JONESBORO' — ATLANTA   EVACUATED 

DESTRUCTION  OF  PROPERTY — SLOCUM  TAKES  POSSESSION — REVIEW  OF  THE 
CAMPAIGN — GENIUS  OF  SHERMAN — PURSUIT  OF  WHEELER. 


BY  the  1st  of  May  lie  was  ready,  waiting  the  signal 
from  over  the  Alleghanies,  nearly  a  thousand  miles  aWay, 
to  start.  He  planned  carefully  beforehand  his  move- 
ments, and  resorted  to  ingenious  devices  to  defend  his 
communications  and  flank  from  Forrest's  cavalry.  One 
of  his  methods  to  protect  the  railroad  in  his  rear  was 
very  simple  and  effective.  The  track  running  south, 
crosses  many  streams,  the  bridges  over  which  must  be 
preserved  at  all  hazards.  Between  them  the  preservation 
of  the  road  was  of  minor  consequence,  for  a  few  hours" 
labor  could  repair  all  the  damage  that  could  be  inflicted 
upon  it.  To  secure  the  bridges  without  detailing  for  their 
defence  large  forces,  which  would  materially  weaken  his 


170  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN.     • 

army,  he  constructed  at  the  head  of  each  one  a  bombproof 
fortress,  or  blockhouse,  provisioned  for  a  long  time,  and 
garrisoned  with  from  two  to  four  hundred  men,  or  there- 
abouts, with  a  few  pieces  of  artillery.  Being  bombproof, 
they  could  not  be  battered  down  with  cannon,  or  carried 
by  assault,  and  being  provisioned  for  a  long  period,  they 
could  not  be  reduced  by  siege,  while  their  guns,  sweeping 
the  approaches  to  the  bridge,  could  effectually  keep  off 
any  working  parties  sent  to  destroy  them. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  Johnston  lay  at  or  near  Dalton, 
with  an  army  60,000  strong,  divided  into  three  corps, 
commanded  by  Hood,  Hardee,  and  Polk,  and  10,000 
cavalry,  under  Wheeler. 

When  the  time  came  to  move,  Sherman  confront- 
ed him  ;  but  seeing  the  strength  of  the  position  and 
the  impossibility  of  carrying  it  by  assault,  he  resolved  to 
turn  it,  and  began  that  series  of  *  brilliant  movements 
which  gave  him  the  name  of  the  "  Great  Flanker."  Hence, 
while  Thomas,  with  his  large  army,  moved  directlv  from 
Einggold  and  drew  up  in  front  of  the  rebel  position  at 
Dalton,  McPherson  was  sent  in  a  circuitous  route  of  thirty 
or  forty  miles  through  Snake  Creek  Gap  to  Resaca, 
eighteen  miles  back  of  Johnston  on  the  railroad.  Thomas, 
in  the  meantime,  pressed  the  latter  so  vigorously  in  front, 
that  he  could  spare  no  troops  to  resist  McPherson's  ad- 
vance, until  he  was  within  a  mile  of  Resaca.  Finding  his 
rear  so  seriously  threatened,  he  abandoned  his  strong 
position,  and,  falling  back,  gave  battle  at  Resaca.  After 
^everal  days  of  more  or  less  severe  fighting,  one  of  the 
enemy's  strongest  positions  was  carried  by  assault,  and  he 
compelled  to  fall  back  again,  leaving  nearly  a  thousand 
prisoners  in  our  hands  and  eight  guns.  Our  loss 
about  5,000  in  the  engagements  that  took  place  here. 


ALLATOONA   FLANKED.  171 

After  the  victory,  Sherman  pushed  his  army  forward 
in  rapid  pursuit — a  part  hugging  closely  the  rear  of  the 
enemy — a  part  moving,  by  circuitous  routes,  upon  his 
flank — pontooning  rivers,  crossing  ridges  and  struggling 
along  bye-ways  and  wood  roads,  threatening  or  striking 
the  astonished  Johnston  at  every  available  point.  In  the 
meantime  Sherman  sent  out  J.  C.  Davis'  division  to  seize 
Rome,  lying  off  several  miles  to  the  west,  who  captured  its 
forts,  guns,  mills  and  foundries. 

On  the  18th,  after  sharp  skirmishing  and  heavy  artil- 
lery fighting,  he  entered  Kingston.  Here  he  gave  his 
overtasked  troops  a  few  days'  rest,  and  spent  the  time  in 
hurrying  forward  supplies ;  as  it  was  of  vital  importance 
he  should  accumulate  them  in  advance,  in  view  of  the 
possible  severance  of  his  communications ;  and  in  re-estab- 
lishing telegraphic  connection  with  Chattanooga.  In 
five  days  the  army  rose  refreshed  like  a  giant  from  new 
wine,  and  the  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery  swept  grand- 
ly on  towards  Atlanta.  Leaving  garrisons  in  Home  and 
Kingston,  he  took  twenty  days1  provisions  in  his  wagons, 
and  started  for  Dallas.  Again  he  was  striking  for  John- 
ston's rear ;  "for  this  cautious,  wily  commander  had  taken  up 
an  impregnable  position  in  the  Allatoona  Mountains,  hop- 
ing that  Sherman  would  dash  his  army  to  pieces  in  trying 
to  force  it.  He  had  seen  enough,  however,  of  the  "  Great 
Flanker's"  tactics  not  to  rely  entirely  on  this,  and  caused 
strong  works  to  be  thrown  up  in  front  of  the  Dallas  and 
Marietta  railroads.  More  or  less  lighting  occurred  all  the 
way,  for  Johnston  hung  threateningly  on  Sherman's  front, 
ready  to  strike  whenever  an  opportunity  should  offer,  and 
disputed  with  his  skirmishers  every  inch  of  ground. 
Hooker,  to  whom  was  assigned  the  task  of  seizing  the 
junction  of  the  railroads  at  this  important  point,  drove 


172  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

the  enemy  before  him  till  he  nearly  reached  the  intrenched 
works,  when  sudden  night  and  a  terrible  storm  arrested 
his  progress.  The  next  three  days  there  was  constant 
skirmishing  and  fighting,  while  Sherman  was  hurrying  up 
his  troops  and  developing  the  enemy's  lines.  Johnston, 
hoping  to  cripple  him  before  his  forces  were  all  in  position, 
made  a  furious  assault  on  McPherson  on  the  28th ;  but, 
after  a  bloody  and  desperate  struggle,  was  repulsed  faith 
the  loss  of  some  three  thousand.  Sherman  now  paused 
for  a  few  days,  and  by  a  series  of  skilful  manoeuvres  com- 
pletely befogged  Johnston  as  to  his  real  intentions,  and  then 
suddenly  swung  McPherson  around  on  the  left.  John- 
ston, seeing  his  rear  again  threatened,  was  compelled,  in 
rage,  to  abandon  his  strong  position  and  fall  back.  All 
his  positions,  which  had  been  selected  with  so  much  care 
and  fortified  with  great  skill,  proved  utterly  worthless  in 
the  presence  of  such  an  antagonist.  He  might  as  well 
have  retreated  at  the  first,  clear  to  Atlanta,  for  he  neither 
could  seriously  cripple  Sherman's  army,  cut  off  his  sup- 
plies, nor  permanently  arrest  his  progress.  He  now  fell 
back  to  Kenesaw  Mountain,  a  stronger  position,  if  pos- 
sible, than  any  he  had  yet  occupied.  Sherman,  in  the 
meantime,  examined  Allatoona  Pass,  and  finding  it  was  just 
the  spot  for  a  secondary  base,  where  he  could  accumulate 
supplies,  and  with  a  small  garrison  protect  them ;  at  once 
established  it,  and  soon  the  railroad  was  emptying  abun- 
dant provisions  into  the  camp  there. 

Everything  being  ready — infantry  and  cavalry  well 
up — u  forward  "  was  once  more  sounded  from  the  bugles, 
and  on  the  9th  of  June  his  banners  were  seen  advancing 
along  every  highway  and  bye-way,  until  he  was  at  length 
brought  to  a  halt  in  front  of  Kenesaw  Mountain.  This 
elevation  stretched  off  to  the  northeast  in  a  range  covered 


KENESAW   MOUNTAIN.  173 

with  chestnut  forests,  while  to  the  west  stood  Pine  Moun- 
tain, and  back  of  it  Lost  Mountain.  These  frowning 
natural  battlements  covered  Marietta  and  the  railroad 
back  to  the  Chattahoochee  river.  Their  conical  peaks  were 
all  surmounted  with  signal  stations,  from  which  the  signal 
corps  could  see  and  telegraph  every  movement  of  our 
army.  Batteries  also  lined  the  summits  and  sides,  while 
every  spur  was  black  with  men  felling  trees  and  digging 
rifle-pits  to  arrest  our  progress.  Banners  waving  along  the 
summer-crowned  heights,  long  lines  of  bayonets  glisten- 
ing amid  the  green  foliage,  bugle  calls  and  the  stirring  notes 
of  the  drum  coming  down  on  all  sides  into  the  valley 
below,  made  it  an  inspiring  scene.  On  the  llth  Sher- 
man was  close  up,  and  as  soon  as  the  different  corps  were 
in  their  assigned  positions  he  determined  to  break  through 
between  Kenesaw  and  Pine  Mountains.  The  artillery 
was  placed  in  position  and  a  heavy  fire  was  kept  up  for 
three  days.  On  the  14th,  General  Bishop  Polk  was  in- 
stantly killed  by  a  cannon  shot.  The  next  day  Pine  Moun- 
tain was  found  to  be  abandoned.  Thomas  and  Schofield 
at  once  advanced,  but  discovered  that  the  enemy  had  only 
fallen  back  to  Lost  Mountain,  between  which  and  Kene- 
saw stretched  a  long  line  of  strong,  skilfully  constructed 
breastworks.  Still  slowly  gaining  ground  at  all  points — 
now  struggling  across  ravines — now  working  through 
dense  forests  of  timber,  out  of  which  incessantly  arose  the 
rattle  of  musketry  and  smoke  of  the  conflict,  Sherman 
pushed  his  foe  so  vigorously,  that  Johnston  was  compelled 
to  change  his  position  and  contract  his  lines.  In  so  do- 
ing, however,  he  increased  his  power  of  defence  immensely. 
From  his  high  perch  on  Kenesaw,  he  could  look  down 
into  Sherman's  camps,  on  which  he  directed  his  elevated 
batteries  to  play,  but  the  shot  and  shell  mostly  went  over 


174  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

the  Leads  of  the  soldiers,  as  they  lay  close  up  against  the 
base  of  the  mountain. 

For  three  weeks  Sherman  tried  in  every  way  to 
find  a  vulnerable  point  in  this  stronghold.  All  this  time 
it  rained  in  torrents,  until  the  roads  were  either  water- 
beds  or  gullies ;  and  where  the  rocks  did  not  prevent  the 
passage  of  artillery,  the  fields  were  so  soft  that-  it  could 
not  be  got  across  them. 

When  Sherman  entered  on  this  campaign,  he  pub- 
lished an  order  forbidding  all  superfluous  baggage,  in- 
forming the  army  that  he  himself  intended  moving  with- 
out a  tent ;  and  thus  far,  in  dry  weather,  he  had  usually 
slept  under  a  tree,  and  in  wet,  in  any  house  along  the 
route.  Here,  however,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  tent,  and 
though  it  raised  the  laugh  against  him,  he  was  glad  to  ac- 
cept of  one  from  General  Logan. 

Early  one  pleasant  morning,  a  regiment  happened  to 
be  marching  on  the  road  near  a  tree  under  which  Sher- 
man was  lying,  where  he  had  thrown  himself  after  a  hard 
night's  toil,  for  a  short  nap.  One  of  the  men,  not  re- 
cognizing who  it  was,  and  supposing  him  to  be  drunk, 
remarked  aloud,  "  That  is  the  way  we  are  commanded — 
officered  by  drunken  Major-Generals."  "Not  drunk,  my 
boy,11  he  good-humoredly  remarked,  raising  his  head,  u  but 
I  was  up  all  night,  and  am  very  tired  and  sleepy."  Had  a 
thunderbolt  dropped  into  that  regiment,  it  would  not  have 
been  more  astonished.  It  passed  quietly  on,  and  the  General 
lay  down  again  to  sleeg.%  Not  long  after,  he  rode  for  ward, 
and  chanced  to  pass  this  regiment  on  the  march.  It  in- 
stantly recognized  him,  and  sent  up  loud  and  hearty  cheers. 

While  he  was  working  his  way  slowly  up  to  the  en- 
emy's works,  u  McPherson  shoving  his  left  forward,  and 
General  Thomas  swinging,  as  it  were,  on  a  grand  left 


GRAND   ASSAULT.  175 

wheel,  his  left  on  the  mountain,  connecting  with  McPher- 
son,"  and  "Schofield  to  the  south  and  east,"  Hood  sud- 
denly came  out  of  his  works,  in  one  of  his  usual  headlong 
onsets,  and  fell  on  a  part  of  Hooker's  corps.  Everything 
went  down  before  him  till  he  reached  Sherman's  line  of 
battle,  when  such  an  awful  fire  met  him,  that  he  recoiled 
in  disorder,  and  again  sought  the  cover  of  his  works,  with 
a  loss  of  seven  f  or  eight  hundred  men.  In  speaking  of 
it,  Sherman  said :  "  Although  inviting  the  enemy  at  all 
times  to  commit  such  mistakes,  I  could  not  hope  for  him 
to  repeat  them,*  after  the  examples  of  Dallas  and  Kulp 
House,"  and  he  therefore  resolved  to  attack  in  turn.  Se- 
lecting the"  enemy's  left  centre  as  the  chief  point  of  attack, 
he,  on  the  24th  of  June,  issued  his  orders  for  a  grand  as- 
sault on  the  27th,  by  McPherson  and  Thomas.  Three 
days1  notice  was  given,  in  order  to  allow  ample  time  for 
preparation  and  reconnoissances. 

On  the  27th,  at  the  appointed  hour,  the  signal  was 
given,  the  charge  sounded,  and  these  two  magnificent  di- 
visions moved  to  the  Dassault.  From  every  spur,  from 
out  the  leafy  foliage,  from  behind  rifle-pits  and  barri- 
cades, from  rocky  ledges,  and  down  from  th6  top  of  lofty 
Keriesaw,  shot  and  shell  rained  in  one  ceaseless  fiery  tor- 
rent. But  right  up  to  the  rebel  works  the  devoted  col- 
umns pressed,  and  all  uncovered  on  the  rocky  slopes, 
stood  and  faced  the  deadly  sleet.  But  over  the  high  and 
bristling  works  they  could  not  pass.  Brave  men  ad- 
vanced the  flag,  only  to  fall  beside  it.  Officers  leaped  for- 
ward with  waving  swords  to  stimulate  the  men,  only  to 
sink  in  their  front.  Face  to  face,  the  one  covered,  and 
the  other  in  full  view,  they  fought — cannon  and  musketry, 
mingled  with  shouts  and  yells,  making  a  fearful  clamor 
there  amid  the  overhanging  peaks.  But  it  was  vain 


176  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

valor.  The  gallant  Harker,  McCook,  and  Rice,  all  Gen- 
erals, fell  one  after  another,  killed  or  wounded ;  officers 
were  being  borne  thickly  to  the  rear;  the  ranks  were  fast 
disappearing,  and  no  foothold  gained,  and  at  last  the  re- 
call was  sounded,  and  the  bleeding  columns  fell  sullenly 
back,  beaten  for  the  first  time.  It  could  hardly  be  called 
a  battle — it  was  a  slaughter — for  the  enemy,  protected  by 
their  strong  works,  suffered  comparatively  but  little,  while 
three  thousand  or  more  of  our  brave  men,  scattered  over 
the  rugged  ground,  either  dead  or  bleeding,  attested  how 
unequal  the  struggle  had  been.  That  was  a  sad  night  to 
the  army,  as  it  gathered  up  its  wounded,  and  buried  the 
dead. 

We  are  inclined  to  think  the  assault  was  a  mistake, 
and  should  not  have  been  ordered.  If  so,  it  was  the 
only  one  Sherman  made  during  this  extraordinary  cam- 
paign. His  reasons  for  making  it  are  not  satisfactory, 
and  we  suspect,  that  getting  weary  of  being  called  the 
everlasting  flanker,  as  though  his  army  could  not  fight 
a  straightforward  battle,  had  more  to  do  with  it  than  any- 
thing else.  He  says,  "  all  looked  to  me  to  outflank." 
"  An  army  to  be  efficient  must  not  settle  down  to  one 
single  mode  of  offence."  In  these  remarks  he  unwittingly 
reveals  the  feeling  that  ruled  him.  No  one  knows  better 
than  he,  that  an  army  should  always  stick  to  that  mode 
of  offense  that  promises  the  largest  results,  with  the  least 
loss  of  life.*  A  wise  general  would  steadily  outflank  for 
fort}'  years,  if  that  was  the  way  to  success.  There  is  no 
fear  that  an  army,  by  pursuing  for  a  long  time  one  kind 
of  policy  which  proves  successful,  will  thereby  be  rendered 
inefficient  in  carrying  out  any  other.  Nothing  makes 
men  more  effective  than  victories.  It  gives  them  such 
confidence  in  their  leader  that  they  are  ready  to  execute 


THE  CHATTAHOOCHEE  BEACHED.  177 

any  command.  Nothing  is  to  be  feared  so  much  as  fail- 
ure. In  this  case  it  would  have  been  far  better  to  have 
stuck  to  "  the  single  mode  of  offence,"  than  to  fall  back  to 
it,  as  he  did,  after  losing  three  thousand  brave  men. 

Five  days  after  this  unsuccessful  assault,  McPhersoii 
was  thrown  rapidly  forward  to  the  Chattahoochee  river, 
and  Johnston,  seeing  his  communications  threatened, 
"  settled"  back  to  his  "  single  mode"  of  operations,  and 
hastily  evacuated  his  strong  position,  which  he  could 
have  held  for  ever  against  a  direct  attack.  Sherman 
entered  Marietta  the  next  day  (July  3d)  just  as  John- 
ston's cavalry  was  leaving  it. 

He  now  hurried  forward  his  columns  with  the  utmost 
rapidity,  hoping  to  catch  the  enemy  in  the  confusion  of 
crossing  the  Chattahoochee.  But  the  wary  Johnston  had 
guarded  against  this,  and  steadily  held  him  at  bay  until 
his  large  army,  with  its  artillery  and  transportation,  was 
safely  across  the  river.  The  next  thing,  therefore,  was 
to  get  across  himself,  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  But 
Johnston,  although  he  was  able  in  a  retreat,  was  no 
match  for  Sherman  in  resources  and  strategy. 

The  rapid  manoeuvres  and  brilliant  movements  of  the 
latter  seemed  to  bewilder  him,  and  he  never  knew  where 
his  agile  foe  would  next  strike.  He,  however,  erected  a 
strong  tete  du  pont,  and  prepared  to  dispute  stubbornly  the 
passage  of  the  river.  But  Schofield,  on  the  7th,  succeeded 
in  effecting  a  lodgment  on  the  opposite  bank,  and  in  three 
days  Sherman,  by  threatening  now  this  point,  and  now 
that,  and  handling  his  troops  in  a  masterly  manner, 
secured  three  good  points  for  passing  the  river  above  the 
enemy's  tete  du  pont.  No  sooner  did  Johnston  discover 
this,  than,  with  a  sad  heart,  he  ordered  a  retreat, — and  re- 
luctantly  giving  up  his  last  defensive  position  between 
12 


178  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  gloomily  fell  back  to  the  latter 
place,  to  be  superseded  by  Hood. 

The  Chattahoochee  was  ours,  and  one  of  the  great 
objects  of  the  campaign  secured.  Atlanta  was  now  only 
eight  miles  distant,  almost  within  hearing  of  Sherman's 
morning  drum.  Marching  his  army  over  the  river,  he 
resolved,  before  advancing  on  the  place,  to  give  it  a  short 
rest.  Since  leaving  the  mountains,  the  heat  had  been 
more  oppressive,  and  the  men,  wearied  by  a  battle-field 
that  stretched  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  or  more 
back  to  Chattanooga,  needed  repose  before  entering  on 
the  desperate  conflicts  Sherman  knew  to  be  close  upon 
them. 

From  the  heights  near  the  river,  Atlanta,  the  "  gate 
city,"  as  it  was  called,  could  be  seen.  Its  spires  and 
domes  rose  above  the  tree-tops  heavy  with  summer  vege- 
tation, and  the  smoke  of  the  locomotives,  dragging  trains 
loaded  with  supplies,  showed  the  lines  of  railroad  running 
into  the  city  from  almost  every  point.  The  murmur  of 
the  busy  host  there  could  not  reach  that  distant  point, 
but  the  echo  of  the  morning  and  evening  gun  reminded 
the  soldiers  that  a  foe  was  awaiting  their  approach. 
Officers,  and,  now  and  then,  privates,  climbed  these 
heights  to  look  on  the  surpassingly  beautiful  landscape 
that  stretched  away  from  the  base.  The  winding  river, 
now  lost  in  overhanging  foliage,  as  it  swept  around  a 
distant  point,  and  now  gleaming  out  like  a  silver  belt  be 
tween  the  green  banks — swelling  uplands  and  smiling 
valleys — broad  sweeps  of  forests,  with  plantations  like 
patches  between — countless  roads  crossing  and  recrossing 
the  country  in  every  direction,  combined  to  make  a  scene 
too  lovely  and  tranquil  to  be  disturbed  by  the  rude  rav- 
ages of  war. 


ASSAULT   ON   THOMAS.  179 

On  the  17th  day  of  July,  the  bugles  sounded  "forward" 
again,  and  the  refreshed  army  advanced  and  formed  line 
on  the  Peach  Tree  road,  near  Aflanta.  The  next  two 
days  were  employed  by  McPherson  and  Schofield  in 
swinging  around  upon  the  Augusta  road,  near  Decatur, 
lying  to  the  east  of  the  city,  thus  destroying  one  line  of 
communication  to  the  enemy — that  toward  Richmond. 
In  the  meantime,  Thomas  took  his  grand  army  across 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  by  several  bridges,  directly  in  front  of 
the  rebel  intrenchments.  These  movements  were  not 
made  without  a  struggle,  and  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
rolling  fire  of  musketry  showed  that  every  step  forward 
was  to  be  gained  at  the  price  of  blood. 

On  the  20th,  Hood  made  his  first  desperate  attempt 
to  escape  his  impending  doom  by  a  furious  assault  on 
Thomas,  while  his  lines  were  in  process  of  formation.  In 
this  onset  the  rebels  threw  themselves  in  solid  masses 
and  with  a  recklessness  of  death,  wonderful  to  behold,  on 
our  half-formed  lines — the  living  pressing  with  sublime 
devotion  over  the  dead — struggling  hopelessly,  madly, 
hour  after  hour,  until  5,000  brave  men  lay  piled  on  the 
field.  Here  almost  an  entire  company  lay  in  a  heap, 
and  there  a  regiment  in  line  of  battle,  just  as  they  stood 
and  took  our  awful  fire.  Our  loss  was  only  a  little  over 
1,700.  Battered  and  bruised  and  decimated,  the  rebel 
army,  two  days  after,. abandoned  its  outer  works  and  fell 
back  to  its  interior  position,  which  was  immensely  strong. 
Commanding  redoubts,  with  water  flowing  between  them 
to  stop  an  advancing  enemy,  and  impassable  chevaux-de- 
frise  in  front,  made  a  defence  over  which  no  troops  could 
be  carried  but  with  a  loss  too  fearful  to  contemplate. 
This  withdrawal,  however,  to  his  inner  position  on  the 
part  of  Hood,  was  not  so  much  from  inability  to  hold 


180  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

his  exterior  line  of  intrenchments  as  from  the  necessity 
of  reducing  his  garrison,  while  he  massed  his  army 
against  McPherson,  sweeping  down  from  Decatur  toward 
the  city.  He  tried  the  same  experiment  on  him  'that  he 
had  on  Thomas,  that  is,  attacked  him  before  his  lines 
were  well  closed  up.  The  onslaught  here  was  full  as 
fierce  and  terrible  and  determined  as  the  one  two  days  be- 
fore on  Thomas,  and,  as  in  that,  at  first  promised  success. 
Six  times  in  succession  the  shouting,  maddened  foe  bore 
down  with  well-nigh  irresistible  fury  on  McPherson's 
lines.  At  times  the  hostile  ranks  were  almost  com- 
mingled, as  in  the  hand-to-hand  fights  of  old.  The  rebels 
fought  more  like  fiends  than  men,  and  seemed  to  court 
death.  But  at  last,  exhausted,  wasted  and  bleeding,  the 
assaulting  columns  gave  it  up.  Over  three  thousand  lay 
dead  on  our  front,  mangled,  torn  and  bleeding,  while 
the  total  loss  of  the  enemy  was  reported  by  Logan  to  be 
full  twelve  thousand.  Ours  was  about  the  same  as 
that  two  days  before;  but  in  the  death  of  McPherson, 
we  suffered  a  greater  loss  than  could  be  reckoned  in 
numbers. 

The  next  day  Garrard,  who  had  been  sent  with  a  cav- 
alry force  to  destroy  the  Augusta  road,  returned,  having 
successfully  accomplished  his  task.  Sherman  now  turned 
his  attention  to  the  Macon  road,  and  sent  out  Stoneman 
with  five  thousand  cavalry,  and  McCook  with  four  thousand 
infantry  to  destroy  it.  Taking  different  routes,  they  were 
to  meet  on  the  railroad,  near  Lovejoy's  Station,  and  after 
completing  its  destruction,  Stoneman  was  to  push  on,  if 
he  deemed  it  prudent,  to  Macon,  and  release  a  large  num- 
ber of  our  prisoners  known  to  be  confined  there.  But 
for  some  reason  he  did  not  go  to  the  place  of  rendezvous 
at  all,  but  marched  directly  on  Macon,  There  he  was 


ATTACK   OF  HOWARD.  181 

brought  to  a  halt  by  the  enemy,  and  in  attempting  to  re- 
treat, was  cut  off  and  taken  prisoner,  together  with  a 
thousand  or  more  of  his  command,  besides  losing  a  large 
number  in  killed  and  wounded.  McCook  reached  the 
point  of  destination,  burned  the  depot  at  Lovejoy's  and 
five  hundred  wagons,  killed  eight  hundred  mules,  and  tore 
up  the  railroad.  But  while  engaged  in  the  work  of  de- 
struction, he  suddenly  found  himself  surrounded  by  a 
superior  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry.  He,  however, 
gallantly  cut  his  way  out,  though  losing  some  five 
hundred  prisoners.  On  the  whole,  the  movement  was  a 
sad  failure. 

Sherman,  having  succeeded  in  destroying  the  Augusta 
railroad  to  the  east  of  Atlanta,  worked  his  army  slowly 
round  to  the  west  side.  A  railroad  runs  south  from 
Atlanta  a  few  miles  to  East  Point,  where  it  branches  off — 
one  road  running  southeast  to  Macon,  and  the  other 
southwest  to  Mobile.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the 
junction  of  these  roads  was  a  very  important  point  to 
seize.  Sherman,  therefore,  while  these  cavalry  raids  were 
in  progress,  endeavored  to  push  his  right  around  Atlanta 
to  it.  Howard,  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was 
selected  to  accomplish  this,  and  began  the  movement  on 
the  night  of  the  26th.  Hood,  seeing  the  coils  thus  steadily 
tightening  around  him,  on  the  28th  made  a  third  and  last 
desperate  assault  to  break  through  them.  "The  enemy,'1 
says  Sherman,  "had  come  out  of  Atlanta  by  the  Bell's 
Ferry  road,  and  formed  his  masses  in  the  open  fields 
behind  a  swell  of  ground,  and  advanced  in  parallel  lines 
directly  against  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  expecting  to  catch 
that  flank  in  air.  His  advance  was  magnificent,  but 
founded  on  an  error  that  cost  him  sadly,  for  our  men 
coolly  and  deliberately  cut  down  his  men ;  and  in  spite  of 


182  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

the  efforts  of  the  rebel  officers,  his  ranks  broke  arid  fled 
But  they  were  rallied  again  and  again,  as  often  as  six  times 
at  some  points,  and  a  few  of  the  rebel  officers  and  men 
reached  our  lines  of  rail  piles  only  to  be  killed  or  hauled 
over  as  prisoners."  From  noon  to  four  o'clock,  the  enemy 
pushed  his  attacks,  and  when  he  fled,  left  his  dead  and 
wounded  in  our  hands.  Six  thousand  was  estimated  as 
his  loss,  while  ours  was  less  than  six  hundred.  This 
estimate  is  doubtless  too  large,  for  it  shows  too  great  a 
disparity.  Hood  now  sullenly  retired  to  his  works,  and 
suffered  Sherman  to  extend  his  right  wing  at  his  leisure, 
and  he  soon  closed  in  and  began  the  siege  of  Atlanta. 
Still  his  force  was  not  large  enough  to  encircle  it  com- 
pletely, without  making  his  lines  too  thin  and  assailable, 
and  the  rebels  succeeded  in  getting  supplies  by  the  Macon 
road.  It  was  evident,  therefore,  that  he  must  either  carry 
the  place  by  assault,  or  destroy  this  road  altogether.  He 
had  ordered  up  some  heavy  guns  from  Chattanooga,  and 
now  began  to  shell  the  place;  but  apparently  with  but 
little  effect.  An  assault  was  therefore  ordered  on  one  of 
the  points  deemed  weakest;  but  was  repulsed  with  a  loss 
to  us  of  four  hundred  men.  It  was  evident  that  an  as- 
sault could  not  be  made  with  any  prospect  of  success, 
without  a  loss,  which  if  unsuccessful,  would  leave  him  but 
the  remnant  of  an  army.  But  one  other  course,  there- 
fore, now  remained  to  be  taken — to  sever  Atlanta  entirely 
from  its  base  of  supplies.  The  occupation  of  the  Macon 
road  would  do  this,  and  he  resolved,  wide  apart  as  it 
would  separate  his  army,  to  make  the  attempt.  But  on 
maturer  reflection,  he  concluded  to  try  if  it  could  not  be 
done  with  cavalry  alone,  and  the  task  was  assigned  to 
Kilpatrick.  With  a  large  force  the  latter  succeeded  in 
reaching  and  cutting  the  road ;  but  this  was  not  enough, 


A    GRAND   MOVEMENT.  183 

it  must  be  kept  broken,  and  Sherman,  therefore,  took  the 
bold  resolution  to  plant  his  armies  on  it.  All  the  surplus 
wagons  and  baggage  not  immediately  needed,  and  the 
wounded  were  sent  back  to  the  intrenched  position  at  the 
bridge,  with  the  Twentieth  corps,  and  on  the  night  of  the 
25th,  the  extraordinary  movement  commenced. 

Although  Hood,  while  it  was  in  progress,  might 
inarch  out  of  Atlanta  on  the  north,  and  overwhelm  the 
army  there,  thus  cutting  it  off  entirely  from  its  base 
of  supplies,  he,  even  in  that  contingency,  would  be 
worse  off  than  Sherman — for  the  former  could  get  no 
supplies  from  the  comparative  sterile  country  in  that 
direction,  while  the  latter  had  the  garden  of  the  South  to 
forage  from.  Sherman  was  aware  of  this,  and  knew  that 
Hood  must  and  would  meet  him  in  battle  on  or  near  the 
line  of  that  road,  and  there  settle  the  fate  of  Atlanta.  The 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  reached  the  West  Point  railroad, 
leading  off  toward  Mobile,  without  loss.  One  day  was 
spent  in  destroying  twelve  miles  of  it,  and  then,  on  the 
29th,  the  whole  army  began  to  move  eastward  toward  the 
Macon  road.  The  comparative  ease  with  which  these 
movements  were  effected  was  owing  in  a  great  measure  to 
the  absence  of  the  rebel  cavalry.  Exasperated  by  Sherman's 
cavalry  raids  on  his  communications,  Hood  resolved  to 
practice  a  similar  strategy  on  his  enemy,  and  sent  off 
Wheeler  toward  Chattanooga  to  break  up  the  railroad 
and  capture  the  garrisons  in  that  direction,  and  thus  cut 
him  off  from  his  base  of  supplies.  This  was  a  fatal  mis- 
take, for  Sherman  had  enough  provisions  accumulated 
this  side  of  that  place  to  last  him  till  he  could  restore  his 
communications.  He  had  formed  a  second  base  at  Alia- 
toona,  and  he  did  not  believe  the  enemy  could  capture  the 
garrison  stationed  there. 


184  MAJOR-GENEBAL   BHERMAN. 

With  his  flanks  easily  protected,  therefore,  he  march- 
ed deliberately  eastward ;  Howard  on  the  right,  Thomas, 
as  usual,  in  the  centre,  and  Schofield  on  the  left.     We 
will  not  attempt  to  describe  these  splendid  movements — 
everything  went  like  clock  work,  and  on  the  last  day  of 
the  month  Howard  reached  Jonesboro,  on  the  Macon 
road,  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Atlanta,  Thomas  farther 
north,  at  Couch's,  and  Schofield  near  Rough-and-Ready, 
still  closer  to  Atlanta.     Hood,  seeing  himself  about  to  be 
caged  like  a  lion,  sent  out  Lee  and  Hardee  to  drive 
Thomas  back.     These  two  corps  fell  on  the  "rock  of 
Chickamauga"  with  the  fury  of  desperation,  but  after  a 
sanguinary  and  protracted  contest,  were  driven  back  with 
the  loss  of  three  thousand  men.     All  the  columns  now 
foore  away  toward  Jonesboro,  where  Sherman  had  ordered 
them  to  be  at  noon  on  the  1st  day  of  September.     So 
perfectly  timed  was  every  movement,  that  that  very  after- 
noon everything  was  in  readiness  for  a  general  assault, 
;and  the  rebel  position  there  was  carried  with  deafening 
shouts,  and  a  whole  brigade  with  eight  guns  captured, 
while  five  thousand  killed  and  wounded  were  left  on  the 
field.     This  settled  the  fate  of  Atlanta,  and  that  night 
Hood,  dispirited  and  overwhelmed,  began  to  evacuate  it. 
Sending  off  such  provisions  only  as  he  could  carry  in  his 
swift  retreat,  he  opened  the  storehouses  of  the  remainder 
to  the  citizens.     The  surplus  ammunition  was  loaded  on 
cars,  which  were  run  out  a  little  way  on  the  Augusta 
railroad  and  blown  up — the  explosion  shaking  the  shores 
of  the  Chattahoochee  river  miles  away,  where  the  Twen- 
tieth Corps  lay,  ignorant  of  what  was  going  on  south  of 
the  city.     Six  engines,  and  nearly  a  hundred  cars,  were 
gathered  together  and  set  on  fire,  and  the  torch  applied  to 
a  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  which  made  the  midnight 


ATLANTA   EVACUATED.  185 

ens  glow  as  though  a  conflagration  was  raging  in  the  sky 
Lighted  on  his  sorrowful  way  by  such  a  sea  of  fire,  Hood, 
with  the  mere  remnant  of  his  army,  moved  swiftly 
across  the  country  toward  Macon.  The  alarmed  inhabi- 
tants, in  carriages,  wagons,  and  every  vehicle  that  could 
be  pressed  into  service,  streamed  after,  making  a  scene  of 
confusion  and  wild  terror  such  as  war  alone  can  create. 
Slocum,  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  seven  miles  north  on  the 
Chattahoochee,  heard  the  loud  explosions,  and  saw  the 
ruddy  heavens,  and  suspecting  the  cause,  sent  out  a  strong 
column  at  daybreak  to  reconnoitre.  Atlanta  was  found 
deserted,  and  he  marched  triumphantly  in  and  took  pos- 
session. That  same  morning  Sherman  moved  south  to 
catch  the  retreating  army  of  Hood,  but  at  Lovejoy's,  ten 
miles  beyond  Jonesboro,  he  found  him  strongly  entrenched 
and  abandoning  the  pursuit,  returned  to  Atlanta.  His 
great  campaign  was  ended. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  wonderful 
foresight,  the  skill  and  genius  exhibited  in  this  unparal- 
leled campaign — the  foresight  which  prepared  for  every 
contingency,  not  only  in  securing  his  long  line  of  com- 
munication, but  in  providing  forage  and  provisions  for 
his  splendid  army — skill,  in  the  handling  of  his  troops  in 
a  country  seamed  with  water-courses,  broken  into  moun- 
tains and  gorges,  and  crossed  only  by  the  most  impracti- 
cable roads,  and  sometimes  rendered  impassable  by  pro- 
tracted storms — the  genius  which  enabled  him  to  break 
away  from  the  established  rules  of  military  science,  or 
rather  introduce  a  new  principle  into  it,  and  thus  crown 
with  triumphant  success  a  campaign  which  scarcely  any 
one  but  himself  believed  could  be  carried  out.  For 
grandeur  of  design,  depth  and  skill  of  combination,  it 
stands  unrivalled  in  military  history.  If  the  First  Na- 


186  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

poleon,  by  the  originality  and  boldness  of  his  designs,  his 
daring  and  successful  departure  from  old  established 
formulas — and  going  back  to  the  first  principles  of  war, 
built  thereon  a  military  system  of  his  own,  which  en- 
tirely revolutionized  the  one  universally  accepted,  and  by 
his  marvellous  combinations  and  rapid  movements  over- 
whelmed his  foes— deserves  the  fame  he  has  won,  then 
Sherman,  by  his  daring  originality  in  moving  so  far  from 
his  base,  yet  still  acting  with  mathematical  precision  and 
certainty,  and  winning  victory,  not  by  good  fortune,  but 
by  profound  calculations,  merits  a  place  among  the  fore- 
most generals  of  the  world.  This  campaign  will  be  a 
study  for  military  men  in  all  future  time.  He  could  well 
say,  "  Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  ivon"  The  tremendous 
events  transpiring  at  the  same  time  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
somewhat  overshadowed  the  magnitude  and  grandeur  of 
the  movements  of  this  campaign,  but  they  will  take  their 
place  in  history  beside  those  of  Caesar  and  Napoleon. 

Sherman,  seeing  that  it  would  be  next  to  impossible 
to  feed  the  destitute  population  left  in  the  place,  and  need- 
ing it  solely  for  a  military  position,  ordered  all  the  non- 
combatants  to  leave,  and  sent  to  Hood  asking  his  coopera- 
tion, so  that  as  little  distress  as  possible  might  be  felt  by 
them.  The  latter  consented,  but  characterized  the  prop- 
osition as  barbarous,  saying,  "It  transcends  in  studied 
and  ingenious  cruelty  all  acts  ever  before  brought  to  my 
attention  in  the  dark  history  of  war."  To  this  Sherman 
replied  in  a  scathing  letter,  in  which  the  charge  of  cruelty 
was  fastened  by  stubborn  facts  on  him  and  his  compeers 
in  the  rebel  service.* 

He  now  gave  all  the  corps,  regiments,  and  batteries 

*  See  close  of  the  volume. 


A   NATIONAL    SALUTE.  187 

permission  to  inscribe  Atlanta  on  their  colors,  while,  by 
order  of  the  President,  a  national  salute  was  fired  at 
every  important  point  at  the  north,  in  honor  of  the  great 
victory. 

The  correspondence  between  him  and  the  Mayor  of 
the  place,  on  the  removal  of  the  inhabitants,  will  well  re- 
pay perusal.* 

Wheeler's  cavalry  that  started  off  to  break  up  his 
communications,  had  now  been  raiding  for  several  weeks 
in  his  rear,  inflicting  considerable  damage,  and  Rousseau, 
Steadman,  and  Granger,  were  sent  back  to  attend  to  him, 
while  forces  were  hurried  up  from  Memphis  and  Vicks- 
burg  to  cooperate  with  them. 

*  See  close  of  the  volume. 


Slocum  (left  win<r.)  Dfivte's  Fourteenth  Corps,  when  separaUd. 

.-.-.-.     Howard  (right  wing:).         >  y« ( 'fivalry. 

MAP  OF  THE  GEORGIA    CAMPAIGN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  GEORGIA  CAMPAIGN. 


HOOD  ATTEMPTS  TO  CUT  SHERMAN'S  COMMUNICATIONS— CORSE'S  GALLAOT 
DEFENCE  OF  ALLATOONA — PURSUIT  OF  HOOD — SHERMAN'S  ORIGINAL  AND 
DARING  PLAN — BURNING  OF  ROME — OF  ATLANTA — SHERMAN  STARTS  FOR 
THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN — VIEWS  RESPECTING  THE  MOVEMENT — DISPOSI- 
TION OF  HIS  FORCES  AND  PLAN  OF  MOVEMENT — THE  LEFT  WING  UNDEB 
8LOCUM — THE  RIGHT  UNDER  HOWARD — KILPATRICK'S  CAVALRY — THB 
TWO  MARCHES — MACON—  MILLED  GEVILLE — SOLDIERS  ORGANIZE  THE 
LEGISLATURE — NOVEL  SCENE — AUGUSTA  THREATENED — MILLEN — MARCH 
TO  SAVANNAH — PICTURESQUE  SCENES  IN  THE  PINE  FORESTS — REVIEW  OTf 
THE  MARCH— SAVANNAH  REACHED  AND  INVESTED— STORMING  OF  FORT 

M'ALLISTER — SHERMAN  WITNESSES  IT  FROM  THE  TOP  OF  A  RICE  MILL — 
SURRENDER  OF  SAVANNAH — MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  CAPTURE — HARDEE 
RETREATS  TO  CHARLESTON — SHERMAN'S  CHRISTMAS  GIFT  TO  THE  PRESI- 
DENT— REVIEW  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN. 

HOOD,  reinforced  by  some  40,000  Georgia  militia,  now 
prepared  to  put  forth  a  desperate  effort  to  recover  his  lost 
ground  and  fame.  The  fall  of  Atlanta  was  a  terrible 
blow  to  the  Confederacy,  and  Davis  hastened  from  his 
capital  to  Georgia  to  try,  by  his  presence,  to  raise  the 
courage  of  the  people.  Loud  and  bitter  curses  had  been 
hurled  against  him  for  putting  Hood  in  Johnston's  place. 
Denounced  for  his  incapacity,  favoritism  and  blunders, 
he  found  it  necessary  to  visit  important  points  in  the  State 
to  arrest  the  growing  desire  of  the  people  to  abandon  the 
struggle  and  return  to  the  Union.  He  made  frequent 
speeches,  in  which  he  departed  from  his  usually  dignified 


192  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

manner,  and  losing  his  temper  or  reason,  or  both,  launched 
forth  into  violent  abuse  of  the  Yankees,  using  language 
that  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  ground  of  tem- 
porary insanity,  caused  by  strong  drink.  Still,  with  his 
aid,  Hood  was  able  to  assemble  a  formidable  army,  and 
by  the  last  of  September  declared  himself  ready  to  move. 
His  plan  was  to  break  Sherman's  long  line  of  communi- 
cations, and  thus  compel  him  to  evacuate  Atlanta  and 
fall  back  to  Chattanooga.  Moving  with  great  rapidity, 
hs  threw  himself  upon  the  railroad  in  various  places, 
breaking  it  up.  This  was  a  bold  move ;  for,  if  successful, 
Sherman  would  be  compelled  to  abandon  all  he  had  won. 
But  the  secondary  base  at  Allatoona  now  stood  the  latter 
in  good  stead.  Beyond  that,  nearly  to  Dalton,  the  rebels 
had  it  all  their  own  way,  and  during  the  entire  month  of 
October,  Sherman  was  cut  off  from  Chattanooga.  If 
Allatoona  could  be  taken,  Sherman's  army  would  be  in 
a  perilous  position,  and  to  secure  its  capture  a  whole 
rebel  division  was  sent  against  it.  French,  the  com- 
mander, demanded  its  surrender,  giving  Corse,  who 
held  it  with  but  1,700  men,  only  a  brief  space  to  con- 
sider the  terms,  and  intimating  that,  if  forced  to  assault, 
no  quarter  would  be  shown.  The  latter  replied,  that 
when  he  should  get  the  place  there  would 'be  no  men  left 
to  kill. 

Sherman,  in  the  meantime,  had  gathered  up  his  entire 
army,  all  but  the  Twentieth  Corps,  and  was  marching 
back  over  the  ground  he  had  so  lately  traversed,  in  pursuit 
of  Hood.  He  heard  the  cannonading  that  opened  the 
attack  on  Allatoona,  and  ordering  the  army  to  move  for- 
ward at  the  top  of  its  speed,  hastened  himself  to  the  high 
top  of  Kenesaw,  overlooking  the  place,  with  signal  officers, 
to  announce  to  the  beleaguered  garrison  his  coming.  He 


A   THRILLING   SCENE  193 

i 

heard  the  thunder  of  artillery  and  saw  the  smoke  of  the 
conflict,  and  also  the  heavy  force  which  Hood  had  been 
able  to  hurl  against  it,  and  flew  his  signal.  But  Corse 
was  too  busy  with  the  enemy  to  notice  it.  Sherman  saw 
that  his  fire  was  rapid  and  steady,  and  said,  "I  know 
Corse,  he  will  hold  it  as  long  as  he  lives."  Still  he 
could  not  be  certain  of  his  life. 

The  odds  against  the  garrison  were  fearful;  but  if  the 
former  could  only  know  that  strong  columns  were  moving 
swiftly  to  his  relief,  all  would  be  well.  Again  his  signal 
flew,  and  but  the  roar  of  guns  replied.  Nothing  but  the 
national  banner  waved  over  the  works,  and  still  the  fight 
went  on ;  Sherman  grew  anxious.  Oh,  for  a  voice  or 
trumpet-call  that  could  reach  that  garrison,  or  that  some 
eye  would  look  above  the  sulphurous  cloud  to  that  clear 
height  where  he  stood! 

A  few  hundred  against  six  thousand  could  not  hold  out 
for  ever.  In  overwhelming  numbers  the  enemy  came  on, 
assault  following  assault  in  quick  succession — fresh  troops 
being  constantly  hurled  against  exhausted  ones.  Thus, 
from  early  dawn,  hour  after  hour,  the  fight  raged,  till  at 
last  the  feeble  garrison  was  driven  from  the  intrenchments 
to  the  hilL  The  shouting  foe  pressed  after  and  stormed 
the  hill.  Corse,  bleeding  and  faint,  still  called  his  dimin- 
ished band  around  him  and  told  them  it  •  was  a  matter  of 
life  and  death  to  Sherman's  army  that  the  place  should  be 
held.  But,  borne  back  by  mere  weight  of  numbers,  the 
garrison  was  forced  from  the  hill  into  the  fort  Half  the 
entire  number  had  already  fallen,  bravely  contesting  every 
inch  of  ground,  and  Corse,  a  part  of  the  time,  was  insensi- 
ble from  his  wounds,  but  when  he  came  to  himself,  the 
indomitable  hero  faintly  told  them  to  fight  on  while  a 
man  was  left.  A  more  gallant  defence  was  never  made. 

13 


194  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

n 

and  Corse  has  inscribed  his  name  on  the  rocks  of  Alla- 
toona  forever. 

From  daylight  till  noon  he  maintained  the  unequal 
struggle,  and  resolved  to  die  there  on  the  last  spot  where  a 
defence  could  be  made.  The  rebels  repulsed,  at  last  drew  off 
for  a  space,  and  then  the  garrison  caught  the  flutter  of  that 
little  flag  on  the  mountain  height  and  knew  its  meaning. 
"  Hold  on,"  it  said,  "  relief  is  coming."  In  silent,  yet 
thrilling  language,  the  answering  signal  came  across  the 
intervening  space :  "  Yes,  to  the  last  man."  Glorious 
announcement !  Sherman  was  satisfied,  and  hurried  up 
still  faster  the  panting  troops.  At  length  the  heads  of  the 
columns  appeared  in  sight,  but  the  enemy  had  fled,  leav- 
ing two  hundred  of  his  number  stark  and  stiff  before  the 
works,  and  four  hundred  prisoners  in  our  hands.  Sher- 
man was  delighted,  and  thanking  Corse  warmly  for  his 
gallant  defence,  issued  a  general  order,  in  which  he 
was  highly  complimented. 

Hood  kept  on  towards  Chattanooga,  destroying  the 
railroad  at  Dalton,  followed  hard  by  Sherman.  He  then 
struck  off  to  the  west  and  then  southwest,  at  the  rate 
of  twenty-five  miles  a  day$  until  he  reached  Gadsden. 
Sherman  kept  up  the  pursuit  as  far  as  Gaylesville,  Ala- 
bama, where  he  halted. 

While  every  one  was  expecting  to  see  him  follow 
Hood  up  and  demolish  him,  he  stopped  pursuit,  and 
struck  out  a  plan  as  daring  as  it  was  new  and  original. 
Thomas  had  before  been  sent  to  Nashville,  to  collect 
troops  from  Sherman's  whole  department  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  now  Schofield,  with  the  Fourth  and  Twenty- 
Third  Corps,  was  left  to  watch  Hood,  and  be  the  nucleus 
of  the  new  army  Thomas  was  to  gather,  while  he  himself 
prepared  to  retrace  his  steps  to  Atlanta,  and  commence 


BURNING   OF   ROME.  195 

his  march  through  Georgia  to  the  ocean.  Strengthening 
a  few  points  like  Bridgeport,  Chattanooga  and  Murfrees- 
boro",  that  must  be  held,  he  abandoned  others,  and  rapidly 
concentrated  an  army  of  about  65,000  men,  thoroughly 
organized  and  equipped,  and  before  Hood  dreamed  of  his 
daring  scheme,  had  cut  loose  from  everything,  and  was 
on  his  way  to  Savannah.  His  start  was  like  that  of 
Cortez  for  Mexico,  when  he  burned  his  ships  on  the 
shore,  to  let  his  soldiers  know  he  never  intended  to  re- 
turn to  them  again. 

First,  everything  in  Rome  was  burned — a  thousand 
bales  of  cotton,  two  flour  mills,  two  tanneries,  a  salt  mill, 
foundry,  machine-shops,  depots,  store-houses  and  bridges 
were  set  on  fire,  making  a  fearful  conflagration.  The 
soldiers,  seeing  the  destruction  going  on,  applied  the  torch 
to  the  private  dwellings,  and  the  night  of  the  10th  of 
November  witnessed  an  awful  scene.  The  flames  leaped 
and  roared  through  the  smoky  atmosphere — houses  tot- 
tered and  fell  with  a  crash  amid  the  blazing  embers,  while 
the  heavens .  above  glowed  like  a  furnace,  shedding  a 
ghastly  light  on  the  mounted  patrols,  and  flooding  field 
and  mountain  in  flame. 

Four  days  after,  the  torch  was  also  applied  to  all  the 
public  buildings  and  depots  of  Atlanta,  making  a  second 
conflagration,  and  lighting  up  the  marching  columns  mov- 
ing out  to  be  ready  to  start  the  next  morning  for  the  sea; 
the  bands  playing,  amid  the  wild  and  terrific  scene,  "John 
Brown's  Soul  goes  Marching  on." 

In  the  meantime,  Sherman  wrote  to  Porter,  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  to  be  looking  out  for  him  about  Christmas, 
"  from  Hilton  Head  to  Savannah ; "  and  to  his  wife,  say- 
ing, a  This  is  my  last  letter  from  here ;  you  will  only 
hear  from  me  hereafter  through  rebel  sources."  His  army, 


196  MA  JOE-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

four  corps  strong,  was  divided  into  two  wings — the  right 
wing,  commanded  by  Howard,  consisting  of  the  Fifteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Corps ;  and  the  left  by  Slocum,  composed 
of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth.  The  march,  when- 
ever practicable,  was  to  be  by  four  parallel  roads.  There 
was  no  general  train  of  supplies  for  the  army,  but  each 
corps  had  its  own,  distributed  among  the  brigades  and 
regiments.  The  columns  were  to  start  regularly  at  seven 
o'clock  every  morning,  and  make  an  average  march  of 
fifteen  miles  a  day.  Two  divisions  of  cavalry,  the  whole 
commanded  by  Kilpatrick,  was  to  cover  the  flanks  of  the 
columns.  An  order  directed  the  army  "  to  forage  liberally 
on  the  march,"  each  brigade  commander  to  organize  a 
good  and  sufficient  foraging  party,  under  the  command 
of  one  or  more  discreet  officers,  and  "aiming,  at  all  times, 
to  keep  in  the  wagon  trains  at  least  ten  days'  provisions 
for  the  commands,  and  three  days'  forage."  It  was  also 
ordered — "  Soldiers  shall  not  enter  the  dwellings  of  the 
inhabitants,  or  commit  any  trespass,  but  during  the  halt 
or  camp  they  may  be  permitted  to  gather  turnips,  pota- 
toes, and  other  vegetables,  and  drive  in  stock  in  front  of 
their  camps." 

Where  the  inhabitants  molested  the  army,  or  guerillas 
were  quartered,  or  bridges  burned  to  retard  the  march,  the 
corps  commanders  were  empowered  to  burn,  destroy,  and 
devastate  to  any  extent  they  deemed  the  exigencies  of  the 
case  demanded.  Horses,  mules,  and  wagons  were  to  be 
taken  wherever  found.  In  foraging,  the  officers  might, 
if  they  chose,  "give  certificates  of  the  facts,  but  no 
receipts;  and  they  will  endeavor  to  leave  with  each 
family  a  reasonable  portion  for  their  maintenance." 
Able-bodied  negroes,  who  could  be  of  service,  were  al- 
lowed to  accompany  the  army ;  but  he  would  not  permit 


THE    MARCH    COMMENCED.  197 

it  to  be  encumbered  with  the  aged,  or  with  women  and 
children. 

On  the  15th  of  November,  this  splendid  army  of 
brawny  western  men,  stripped  like  an  athlete  for  the 
race  and  the  struggle,  set  its  face  toward  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  and  with  banners  streaming  and  bands  playing, 
bade  farewell  to  the  smouldering  ruins  of  Atlanta.  Slo- 
cum,  commanding  the  left  wing,  was  to  march  directly 
east,  on  the  railroad  leading  from  Atlanta  to  Augusta,  de- 
stroying it  as  he  went.  Howard,  with  the  right  wing, 
was  to  follow  the  Georgia  Central  road,  running  south- 
east through  Macon  and  Milledgeville  to  Savannah.  Two 
columns  of  cavalry — one  to  the  north  of  Slocuin,  and 
the  other  to  the  south  of  Howard — were  to  protect  their 
flanks,  and  conceal  entirely  from  view  the  routes  of  the 
infantry.  All  between  them  was  to  be  a  terra  incognita, 
for  the  time  being,  to  the  external  rebel  world.  By  the 
road  Slocum  took,  it  was  170  miles  to  Augusta ;  by  that 
which  Howard  marched,  291  to  Savannah.  This  was  the 
main  outline,  as  traced  by  Sherman,  for  this  wonderful 
march.  He  had  little  to  fear  from  his  rear,  for  he  had 
left  Hood  away  back  on  the  Tennessee,  gathering  in  his 
forces  to  crush  him,  as  he  supposed,  in  a  decisive  battle. 
Even  while  the  rebel  speechmakers  were  descanting  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  army  on  the  speedy  overthrow  of 
this  bold  invader,  now  declared  to  be  in  their  front,  his 
columns  were  far  away,  piercing  the  heart  of  Georgia. 

When  this  daring  movement  was  first  made  public, 
it  is  hard  to  say  which  was  most  astonished — the  North 
or  South.  Nothing  like  it  had  ever  been  heard  of  in 
modern  warfare.  The  rebel  editors  and  declaimers  on 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  professed  to  be  rejoiced  at  it,  for  it 
secured,  they  said,  the  destruction  of  Sherman's  army 


198  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

The  aroused  people,  they  declared,  would  hang  along  his 
flanks  as  lightning  plays  along  the  edge  of  the  thunder 
cloud,  and  remove  beyond  reach  all  the  provisions,  so 
that  his  army  would  be  dissipated  and  vanquished  by 
starvation  alone.  The  spirit  of  the  ancient  Holla  was  in- 
voked, "to  raze  every  house  and  burn  every  blade  of  grass" 
in  front  of  the  invader.  In  Europe,  it  created  almost 
equal  astonishment.  Said  the  London  Times,  "  Since  the 
great  Duke  of  Marborough  turned  his  back  upon  the 
Dutch,  and  plunged  heroically  into  Germany  to  fight  the 
famous  battle  of  Blenheim,  military  history  has  recorded 
no  stranger  marvel  than  the  mysterious  expedition  of 
General  Sherman,  on  an  unknown  route  against  an  un- 

'  O 

discoverable  enemy;"  but,  after  all,  doubted  greatly  its 
success.  The  British  Army  and  Navy  Gazette,  in  speak- 
ing of  it,  said,  "  He  has  done  either  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  or  most  foolish  things  ever  performed  by  a  mili- 
tary leader."  The  Kichmond  papers  scornfully  boasted, 
that  his  march  "  would  lead  him  to  the  Paradise  of  fools." 
The  ablest  critics  of  Europe,  however,  declared,  that  if  he 
were  successful,  he  would  "  add  a  fresh  chapter  to  the 
theory  and  practice  of  modern  warfare."  At  the  North, 
many  doubted  the  expediency  of  the  novel  movement. 
Some,  feeling  how  impossible  it  would  be  for  an  army  to 
march  that  distance  through  any  northern  State,  and  not 
taking  into  consideration  that  the  hard-working  classes 
and  farmers  that  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  population 
here  were  slaves  there,  and  friendly  to  the  invader,  pre- 
dicted that  he  would  be  compelled  to  retrace  his  steps. 
Others,  knowing  that  with  such  a  rapid  march  as  he  con- 
templated, he  could  carry  no  siege  trains  with  him  to  re- 
duce fortified  places,  said,  that  he  could  at  best  but  strike 
the  sea,  without  securing  any  important  foothold,  and 


DOUBTS  AS  TO  THE  RESULT.  199 

thus  leave  oiijy  a  wide  and  desolate  track  as  the  sole  fruit 
of  the  undertaking.  Others,  still,  feared  that  the  west 
was  left  too  much  weakened,  and  that  rebel  conquests 
there  would  more  than  offset  all  that  would  be  gained 
by  a  inarch  across  Georgia.  But  while  at  home  and 
abroad  the  air  was  filled  with  ominous  forebodings,  the 

o  / 

cause  of  them  all  was  calm  and  confident.  The  last  con- 
tingency— viz.,  disaster  in  the  west,  was  the  most  to  be 
feared ;  and  Sherman  said,  afterward,  "  If  Thomas  had 
not  whipped  Hood  at  Nashville,  600  miles  away,  my 
plans  would  have  failed,  and  I  would  have  been  de- 
nounced the  world  over ;  but,"  he  added,  "  I  knew  Gen- 
eral Thomas,  and  the  troops  under  his  command,  and 
never  for  a  moment  doubted  a  favorable  result."  He  had 
not  left  his  fate  in  the  hands  of  an  untried  commander ; 
he  could  trust  Thomas  as  implicitly  as  himself.  The 
"Rock  of  Chickamauga"  would  never  fail  him.  There 
was  one  contingency,  however,  he  did  not  contemplate, 
which  might  have  ruined  him — the  removal  of  Thomas 
by  the  Secretary  of  War,  when  he  failed  "  to  move  at 
once  on  the  enemy's  works  at  Nashville."  Had  he  been 
allowed  to  wield  the  same  power  that  he  had  for  the  past 
two  years,  this  most  brilliant  movement  in  military  an- 
nals, and  most  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  Confederacy, 
might  have  proved  a  calamitous  failure. 

Sherman,  however,  trusting  calmly  in  Thomas,  Grant, 
his  army,  his  own  genius,  and  a  favoring  providence,  cut 
loose  his  moorings  and  drifted  boldly  out  to  sea.  Slocum, 
moving  out  on  separate  roads,  destroying  the  railroad  as 
he  advanced,  pushed  on  through  Decatur,  Stone  Moun- 
tain, Social  Circle,  Rutledge  and  Madison,  filling  the  in- 
habitants with  consternation,  who  never  dreamed  that  an 
enemy's  army  would  penetrate  to  those  retired,  remote 


200  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

regions.  From  Madison,  Geary's  division  pushed  on  to 
the  Oconee  river,  destroying  a  bridge  over  it  1,500  feet 
long,  while  a  body  of  cavalry  crossed  it  and  advanced  as 
far  as  Greensboro1,  eighty-four  miles  from  Augusta.  Slo- 
cum  turned  suddenly  south  from  Madison  towards  Mil- 
ledgeville.  The  Fourteenth  Corps  wheeled  in  the  same 
direction,  further  back,  and  now  Geary  to  the  eastward, 
did  the  same  thing,  moving  down  the  west  bank  of  the 
Oconee.  On  the  21st,  Slocum  entered  Milledgeville,  the 
capital  of  the  State.  The  next  day,  Howard's  wing  came 
marching  in  with  banners  displayed  and  music  playing. 
He  had  moved  on  Macon,  covered  by  a  cloud  of  Kilpat- 
rick's  cavalry,  which  found  at  Lovejoy's  about  3,000 
Georgia  militia.  Charging  on  these,  Kilpatrick  killed  some 
fifty,  and  scattered  the  rest  in  flight.  Howard  followed  leis- 
urely, destroying  the  railroad  behind  him  as  he  advanced. 
At  Bear  Creek  Wheeler's  cavalry  was  met,  and  forced 
back  finally  to  Macon.  Here  was  concentrated  a  large 
army,  defended  by  breastworks  and  artillery,  for  the  enemy 
had  no  doubt  that  Sherman's  grand  object  was  to  take 
this  place.  But  while  the  cavalry  was  threatening  it, 
he  ordered  Howard,  when  within  a  few  miles  of  it, 
to  leave  the  railroad,  and  crossing  the  Ocmulgee,  pass 
north  to  the  same  railroad,  beyond  his  line  of  march, 
making  the  base  of  an  obtuse  triangle,  of  which  Macon 
was  the  apex.  Thus,  while  the  rebel  commanders  were 
preparing  for  a  desperate  defence  of  the  place,  they  beheld 
to  their  amazement,  the  army  beyond  them,  quietly 
marching  on  toward  Milledgeville.  Sherman  had  evi- 
dently never  heard  of  or  had  forgotten  the  old  established 
military  maxim,  "  never  to  leave  a  fortified  place  of  the 
enemy  in  your  rear."  He  marched  where  he  pleased,  with 
the  insouciance  of  a  man  oblivious  of  danger,  and  igno- 


A   COMIC   LEGISLATURE.  201 

rant  of  all  the  rules  of  war.  Passing  rapidly  through 
Jackson,  Indian  Springs,  Monticello,  and  Hillsboro',  like 
one  on  a  flying  visit,  he  entered  Milledgeville  the  day 
after  Howard.  Here  he  halted  for  several  days,  and 
swept  the  surrounding  country  of  forage  and  provisions 
for  future  use.  He  had  left  a  part  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps 
at  Griswoldsville,  ten  miles  east  of  Macon,  where  he 
again  struck  the  railroad,  to  protect  his  rear  while  march- 
ing on  the  capital.  The  enemy  at  Macon,  enraged  at 
being  thus  completely  outwitted,  made  a  furious  attack 
with  three  brigades  of  militia  on  it,  but  of  course  was  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  of  nearly  a  thousand  men.  It  was  a 
mad  freak,  but  as  something  must  be  done,  this,  perhaps, 
was  about  as  good  as  anything  else  in  their  power. 

Sherman  took  up  his  headquarters  in  the  Executive 
Mansion,  which  had  been  completely  stripped  of  furniture, 
but  he  did  not  seem  to  miss  it,  for  spreading  a  pair  of 
blankets  on  the  floor,  he  presented  a  much  more  striking 
appearance,  though  he  did  not  keep  up  quite  so  much 
state  as  his  rebel  excellency  had  done,  who  had  just  lefL 
The  soldiers  took  possession  of  the  State  House,  organiz- 
ed the  Legislature  by  appointing  a  speaker,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  business.  Motions  were  made,  resolutions 
offered  and  speeches  delivered ;  and  though  Jefferson's 
Manual  was  not  strictly  followed,  and  parliamentary  eti- 
quette certainly  violated,  and  the  speaker  very  much  lack- 
ing in  dignity,  and  the  House  decidedly  disorderly,  yet,  the 
proceedings,  on  the  whole,  were  much  more  interesting  and 
sensible  than  any  that  had  taken  place  there  for  the  last 
three  years.  The  rebel  Legislature  had  been  in  session, 
but  Sherman's  near  approach  broke  it  up  in  great  con- 
fusion, and  the  members  with  the  Governor  fled  wildly 
back  into  the  interior.  This  scene  was  enacted  over  again 


202  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

by  the  new  Legislature,  composed  of  the  soldiers.  In  the 
midst  of  their  comic  deliberations,  a  courier  rushed  into 
the  chamber  shouting,  "  The  Yankees  are  coming."  In 
a  moment  all  was  confusion,  and  amid  shouts  and  yells 
and  laughter,  the  rollicking  multitude  rushed  for  the 
door. 

The  army  was  near  Milledgeville  on  the  national 
Thanksgiving  Day,  and  having  prepared  for  it  by  judi- 
cious foraging  previously,  they  celebrated  it  in  the  heart 
of  rebeldom  by  a  sumptuous  dinner  of  chickens  and  tur- 
keys. Over  every  camp-fire  hung  a  fowl,  and,  amid  jokes 
and  laughter,  and  all  the  abandon  of  camp-life,  the  na- 
tional festival  was  kept  by  the  troops. 

Having  sufficiently  rested,  and  equipped  with  rations 
for  forty  days  in  the  wagons,  the  army  now  resumed  its 
march  eastward.  At  Sandersville,  Wheeler  disputed  our 
advance ;  but,  after  a  brief  action,  fell  back  to  Waynes- 
boro1,  only  thirty  miles  south  of  Augusta.  Kilpatrick 
followed  on  and. was  attacked  by  him,  but  repulsed  him 
with  a  loss  of  two  hundred  men.  The  operations  of  Kil- 
patrick so  near  Augusta  alarmed  the  inhabitants  of  the 
place,  who  now  had  no  doubt  that  their  city  was  the  chief 
point  of  attack.  But  while  the  cavalry  swarmed  the 
country  in  this  direction,  concealing  the  real  move- 
ments of  the  army,  it  was  marching  rapidly  on  Mlllcn, 
some  sixty  miles  south  of  the  place,  and  seventy-five 
miles  from  Milledgeville.  It  was  reached  in  eight  days, 
December  2d.  Here  Sherman  again  halted,  while  the 
cavalry  scoured  the  country  in  every  direction.  His 
arrival  at  this  place  seemed  at  last  to  arouse  the  rebel 
authorities  to  the  danger  that  threatened  them.  They 
had  affected  to  believe  all  the  time  that  Sherman  was 
only  on  a  great  raid ;  but  the  nearness  of  his  approach 


MARCH    ON   SAVANNAH.  203 

both  to  Augusta  and  Savannah,  convinced  them  that  he 
had  a  greater  object  in  view  than  to  burn  cotton  and 
destroy  railroads,  and  leave  a  wide  track  of  desolation  in 
his  rear.     Augusta  lies  due  north  from  Millen,  and  Savan- 
nah directly  southeast — the  railroad  to  the  latter  running 
along  the  Ogeechee  river.      From  this  point  Sherman 
could  look  back  with  pride  on  his  track.     For  a  hundred 
miles  the  Georgia  Central  Railroad  lay  a  wreck,  and  the 
Georgia  road  for  more  than   sixty.     He  had  travelled 
where  he  listed,  and  with  but  little  molestation,  living  in 
the  meantime  on  the  fat  of  the  land.      It  had  been  like  a 
holiday  march,  so  completely  had  he  deceived  the  enemy 
respecting  his  own  plans,  and  thwarted  all  of  theirs.  Now, 
for  the  first  time,  his  movements  were  cleared  from  all 
obscurity.     Concealment  was  no  longer  possible,  for  he 
was  compelled  to  take  a  decisive  step  in  some  one  direc- 
tion.    On  the  2d  of  December,  with  the  various  columns 
well  closed  up,  ammunition  and  provisions  in  plenty,  the 
army,    strengthened  instead   of   weakened  by   its   long 
march,    and   buoyant   with   hope  and   confidence  in  its 
great  leader,  moved  out  of  Millen,  and  swinging  on  it  as 
a  pivot,  swept  down  in  six  parallel  columns,  by  as  many 
different  roads  toward  Savannah.     As  at  Macon,  so  now 
at  Augusta,  the  rebel  army  massed  there,  saw  Sherman 
leaving  them  idle  arid  useless  far  in  his  rear. 

The  country  through  which  the  line  of  march  now  lay 
was  covered  with  pine  forests,  beneath  the  murmuring 
branches  of  which  the  army  moved  rapidly  forward. 

Heretofore  their  march  had  led  them  through  richly- 
cultivated  fields,  past  costly  plantations,  and  houses  filled 
with  luxuries,  and  villages  smiling  amid  peaceful  plains. 
The  soldiers  had  looked  with  amazement  on  a  country 
upon  which  nature  had  lavished  her  gifts  with  such  a 


204:  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

bountiful  hand.  Now  they  passed  for  a  time  into  an 
entirely  different  world. 

At  night  the  scene  was  often  wild  and  picturesque. 
For  miles  and  miles  through  the  forest,  the  blazing 
torches,  now  moving  in  zigzag  lines  among  the  trees,  now 
standing  in  long  rows  like  a  burning  colonnade,  lighted 
up  the  scene  with  a  strange  splendor.  Here  and  there 
large  camp-fires  threw  into  bold  relief,  against  the  back- 
ground of  darkness,  the  motionless  trunks  of  trees,  reced- 
ing away  in  the  gloom  like  the  columns  in  a  dimly-lighted 
cathedral,  and  shed  a  cheerful  glow  on  the  countless  tents 
that  stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  on  every  side, 
while  bands  of  music,  answering  each  other  in  the  dis- 
tance, filled  the  vast  forest  with  melody.  Everywhere 
through  the  solemn  arcades  rang  the  cries  of  teamsters, 
the  neighing  of  animals,  and  shouts  of  men.  Far  in  front 
and  rear,  where  the  cavalry  bivouacked,  the  scene  was 
still  more  inspiring.  The  bugle  call  sounding  the  halt, 
the  clanking  of  sabres,  and  the  endless  stream  of  horses, 
winding  among  the  trees  amid  the  deepening  shadows, 
gave  the  whole  an  air  of  romance,  and  made  it  seem  more 
like  the  creation  of  the  imagination,  than  an  actual, 
every-day  scene.  The  breaking-up  of  camp  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  roll  of  the  drum,  the  echoing  strains  of  the  bugle, 
dying  away  in  the  dim  solitude — the  marshalling  of  the 
columns,  the  long  lines  of  steel  passing  like  an  endless 
glittering  stream  among  the  trees,  presented  a  new 
picture,  as  though  some  unseen  hand  had  suddenly 
shifted  the  scenes. 

Thus  the  great  army  swept  on  through  cities,  villages, 
and  forests.  "  In  the  day  time,  the  splendor,  the  toil,  the 
desolation  of  the  march ;  in  the  night  time,  the  brillian- 
cy, the  music,  the  joy,  and  the  slumber  of  the  camp, 


SAVANNAH   BEACHED.  205 

Memorable  the  music  'that  mocked  the  noon'  of  No- 
vember of  the  soil  of  Georgia ;  sometimes  a  triumphant 
march,  swelling  out  over  the  plains,  and  echoing  through 
the  leafy  solitudes,  and  again,  an  old  air  stirring  the 
heart  alike  to  recollection  and  hope.  Floating  out  from 
throats  of  brass  to  the  ears  of  soldiers  in  their  blankets, 
and  generals  within  their  tents,  these  tunes  hallowed  the 
evenings  to  all  that  listened." 

One  of  the  most  novel  features  of  this  march  was  the 
tattered,  mongrel  crowd  of  blacks  that,  despite  Sherman's 
order,  followed  in  its  trail. 

A  river  on  either  flank  protected  it,  while  the  cavalry, 
no  longer  needed  as  a  curtain,  moved  in  advance  and 
rear,  as  a  guard.  Thus,  for  over  eighty  miles,  the  army 
moved  steadily  down  on  Savannah.  About  ten  miles 
from  the  city  the  left  wing  struck  the  Charleston  railroad, 
and  encountered  the  skirmishers  of  the  army  of  Hardee, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  place. 

The  right  wing  also  approached  the  outer  line  of  the 
enemy's  works.  Sherman  was  now  where  he  could  hear 
the  signal  guns,  in  Ossabaw  Sound,  that  for  days  had 
been  firing,  as  had  long  before  been  agreed  upon.  Their 
heavy  boom,  ringing  over  Savannah  and  the  neighboring 
forests,  was  full  of  mystery  to  the  inhabitants,  but  they 
spoke  a  language  well  understood  by  Sherman.  In  the 
meantime,  Colonel  Duncan,  on  the  9th,  started  down  the 
Ogeechee,  and  three  days  after  stepped  aboard  of  Dahl- 
gren's  flagship.  Sherman  had  once  more  reached  the 
outer  world,  where  the  news  of  what  was  going  on  could 
be  received. 

The  army  now  closed  gradually  and  steadily  in  upon 
the  city ;  working  its  way  day  by  day  by  hard  fighting 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  coveted  prize.  The  enemy  had 


206  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

opened  the  canals,  and  flooded  the  rice-fields  below  it,  till 
a  vast  swamp  met  the  eye  on  every  side.  Where  a  high 
road  traversed  these,  it  was  swept  by  rebel  artillery,  but 
still  the  enthusiastic  soldiers  would  see  no  insurmountable 
obstacles,  and  inch  by  inch,  always  advanced,  and  never 
receded. 

But  Sherman  saw  that  he  must  have  water  communi- 
cation with  the  fleet,  to  get  up  heavy  guns,  and  yet  there 
was  no  likelihood  that  Dahlgren  could  force  his  way  up 
the  Savannah  river.  He,  therefore,  determined  to  cap- 
ture Fort  McAllister,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Qgeechee, 
which  enters  the  ocean  but  a  few  miles  south  of  the  Sa- 
vannah. This  fort  was  a  very  strong  one,  and  had  re- 
sisted two  or  three  bombardments  of  our  iron-dads ;  but 
the  rebels,  by  a  strange  fatality,  seemed  to  overlook  the 
possibility  of  a  land  attack  by  Sherman,  and  had  neg- 
lected to  strengthen  its  garrison. 

Sherman  could  not  spare  the  time  for  a  siege,  and 
hence  determined  to  carry  it  by  assault.  The  gallant 
Hazen,  with  his  division,  was  selected  for  the  hazardous 
undertaking.  Having  marched  fifteen  miles  during  the 
day  and  night  of  the  12th,  the  latter  was  ready  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  13th  for  the  desperate  assault.  On  the 
roof  of  a  rice  mill,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  stood 
Sherman  and  Howard,  and  their  respective  staffs,  with 
signal  officers.  To  aid  in  the  assault  Dahlgren  had  been 
requested  to  send  round  a  gunboat.  The  anxious  chieftain 
now  turned  his  eye  toward  the  sea  to  catch  the  signals  of 
the  expected  fleet,  but  nothing  but  a  blue  expanse  met  his 
gaze.  Time  passed  with  leaden  footsteps,  and  he  paced 
the  roof  nervously,  exclaiming,  "  Hazen  must  carry  the 
place  by  assault  to-night."  At  length  the  smoke  of  the 
pipes  was  seen,  and  soon  the  answering  signals  were  dis- 


STORMING    OF   FORT    McALLISTER.  207 

cerned.     Turning  toward  Hazen's  waiting  battalions,  he 
saw  his  signal  flying,  "  I  shall  assault  immediately."    Tho 
gunboat  was  now  steadily  steaming  forward,  and  in  reply 
to  the  enquiry  of  Sherman,  "Can  you  assist?"  the  captain 
answered,   "Yes;    what   will  you  have  us  do?"      The 
thunder  of  the  enemy's  guns  in  the  fort  was  the  answer, 
and  then  came  the  rattling  of  small  arms.     Hazen  was 
on  the  march.     Dashing  on  *the  double  quick  over  a  space 
nearly  a  third  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  swept  by  the  rebel 
artillery,  the  resolute  column  reached  a  deep  ditch  with 
its  bottom  planted  thick  with  sharp  palisades.     "Wrench- 
ing these  out  of  their  deep  beds  by  main  force,  a  living 
hand  taking  the  place  of  a  dead  one  as  fast  as  it  dropped, 
they  tore  madly  through,  and  breasting  the  awful  fire 
that  smote  them,  mounted  with  loud  shouts  the  deadly 
ramparts.     Sherman  watched  the  onset  through  his  glass 
with  the  deepest  anxiety.     "  There  they  go  grandly,"  he 
exclaims.    A  few  seconds  pass,  and  again  he  almost  shouts, 
"See  that  flag  in  the  advance,  Howard!  how  steadily  it 
moves — not  a  man  falters.     There  they  go  still.     Grand! 
grand !  "     Still  he  strains  his  eyes,  and  a  moment  after 
speaks  without  looking  up,  "That  flag  still  goes  forward; 
there  is  no  flinching  there."     After  a  moment's  pause  he 
exclaims,  "  Look,  it  has  halted.     They  waver — no,  it's  the 
parapet.     There  they  go  again — now  they  reach  it — some 
are  over.     Look  there — a  flag  on  the  works!     Another! 
another !     It's  ours — the  fort,  is  ours ! "    The  glass  dropped 
If  his  side,  his  face  lighted  up  with  a  sudden  gleam,  and 
turning  to  one  of  his  aids,  he  said,  "Captain,  have* a 
boat  ready ;  I  am  going  down  to  the  fleet."     Seizing  a 
slip  of  paper,  he  wrote  a  despatch  to  the  Government, 
closing  with  this  assurance:  "I  regard  Savannah  as  al- 
ready gained." 


208  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

The  capture  of  Savannah  was  now  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion. Being  completely  invested  on  every  side  but  the 
eastern,  its  fall  was  only  a  question  of  time,  and  on  the 
16th,  Sherman  sent  in  a  formal  demand  for  its  surrender. 
Hardee  refused,  and  the  former  brought  up  more  siege 
guns,  and  mounted  them  along  his  lines.  In  four  days 
he  was  ready  to  open  the  bombardment.  Hardee  now  saw 
that  to  attempt  to  hold  the  place  would  only  subject  the 
city  to  certain  destruction,  and  inflict  untold  horrors  on 
the  inhabitants,  and  so  on  that  night,  under  cover  of  the 
darkness,  crossed  his  army  to  the  Carolina  shore  on  a 
pontoon  bridge,  and  marched  it  rapidly  off  toward 
Charleston.  The  next  morning,  at  daylight,  Geary's 
pickets  crept  up  to  the  silent  works,  and  over  them — 
meeting  with  no  resistance — and  soon  after  Geary  himself 
received  from  the  Mayor  the  formal  surrender  of  the 
place. 

Sherman  sent  the  following  terse  despatch  to  the 
President : 

UI  beg  to  present  you  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns  and  plenty 
of  ammunition,  and  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales  of 
cotton."  It  turned  out  that  there  were  thirty-eight  thou- 
sand bales.  Three  steamers  were  also  captured,  with 
locomotives,  cars,  &c.,  and  eight  hundred  prisoners. 

Thus  ended  another  of  the  most  wonderful  campaigns 
011  record.  In  leaving  his  real  base  at  Nashville,  and 
marching  nearly  three  hundred  miles  into  the  enemas 
country,  dependent  all  the  time  on  a  single  line  of  rail- 
way for  supplies,  he  had  exploded  as  before  remarked,  a 
Deceived  military  maxim,  and  established  in  its  place  one 
of  his  own.  Not  content  with  this,  he  took  another  step 
forward  in  his  bold  innovations ;  he  gave  up  a  base  alto- 


SAVANNAH   OURS.  209 

gether  and  permanently,  and  flung  his  army  into  mid-air, 
to  live  as  it  could,  until  it  reached  another  base  on  a  dis- 
tant ocean.  For  boldness  and  originality  of  design  and 
masterly  execution,  this  campaign  stands  alone  in  the 
history  of  modern  warfare.  The  South  was  struck  dumb 
at  its  success ;  all  its  prophecies  had  proved  false,  while 
the  North  was  jubilant  with  delight  and  rang  with  his 
praises.  He  had  not  only  got  through  safely,  but  he 
brought  into  Savannah  not  the  wreck  of  a  half  starved, 
exhausted  army,  but  one  in  a  better  condition,  if  possible, 
than  when  it  started ;  the  animals  fresh  and  vigorous,  and 
not  a  wagon  lost.  A  thousand  men  would  cover  his 
entire  loss  in  this  long  and  wonderful  march. 

Superficial  observers,  dazzled  by  a  great  battle,  do  not 
appreciate  the  mental  greatness  that  can  devise  and  carry 
out  two  such  campaigns  as  the  one  from  Chattanooga  to 
Atlanta,  and  from  the  latter  place  to  Savannah ;  but  the 
military  student  will  never  cease  wondering  at  their  mag- 
nitude, originality  and  success.  Grant  had  said  that  the 
Southern  Confederacy  was  a  shell  ;  Sherman  had 
proved  it. 


14 


15T-H  CORPS 

17  . 

20. 

14.        . 

CAVA-LRY 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  CAROLINAS. 

SHERMAN  PLANS  HIS  NORTHERN  CAMPAIGN — STRENGTH  AND  DIVISION  OF  HIS 
ARMY — THE  TRAINS — CONSTRUCTION  TRAIN — THE  LEFT  WING  THREATENS 
AUGUSTA — THE  RIGHT  CHARLESTON — RAIN  STORMS — SALKAHATCHIE  AS  A 
LINE  OF  DEFENCE — SHERMAN^S  PLAN  TO  SEPARATE  THE  FORCES  AT  CHAR- 
LESTON- AND  AUGUSTA  COMPLETELY  SUCCESSFUL — THE  RAILROAD  BE- 
TWEEN THE  TWO  BROKEN  UP — CAPTURE  OF  ORANGEBURG BRANCHVILLE 

LEFT  IN  THE  REAR — THE  ARMY  REACHES  THE  8ALUDA — FALL  OF  CO- 
LUMBIA— IS  SET  ON  FIRE  BY  THE  REBELS — SHERMAN'S  ACCOUNT  OF — ANEC- 
DOTES OF  SHERMAN — CHARLOTTE  THREATENED  AND  BEAUREGARD  BEWIL- 
DERED— FALL  OF  CHARLESTON — THE  ARMY  WHEELS  ABOUT  AND  MARCHES 
ON  FAYETTEVILLE — THE  TWO  WINGS  MEET  FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME  AT 
CHERAW — CAPTURE  OF  FAYETTEVILLE  AND  COMMUNICATION  OPENED 
WITH  TERRY  AND  SCHOFIELD — RALEIGH  THREATENED — BATTLE  OF  BEN- 
TONVILLE — GOLDSBORO  REACHED — THE  CAMPAIGN  VIRTUALLY  ENDED — 
SHERMAN  VISITS  GRANT  AND  IS  DIRECTED  TO  CO-OPERATE  WITH  HIM — HIS 
RETURN— NEWS  OF  THE  FALL  OF  PETERSBURG — SHERMAN  MARCHES  ON 
RALEIGH — NEWS  OF  LEE'S  SURRENDER — EXCITEMENT  IN  THE  ARMY — 
INTERVIEW  WITH  JOHNSTON — THE  ARMISTICE — CONDUCT  OF  THE  SECRE- 
TARY OF  WAR — VINDICATION  OF  SHERMAN — INJUSTICE  AND  CRUELTY  OF 
THE  ATTACKS  ON  HIM — HIS  CHARACTER. 

HE  now  gave  his  army  rest,  preparatory  to  another 
movement  which  should  equally  astonish  the  world,  and  not 
only  fill  with  amazement,  but  demolish  the  rebel  govern- 
ment. "What  his  first  step  would  be  no  one  knew ;  some  in- 
sisting that  his  objective  point  would  be  Augusta,  others 
Charleston.  He  might  take  ship  and  transport  his  army 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Richmond;  or  he  might  in  his 


214  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN 

lordly  way  march  all  the  way  up  through  the  Confeder- 
acy, crushing  the  rebel  cities  and  fortifications  like  egg- 
shells beneath  his  feet  as  he  advanced,  until  he  caged  Lee 
in  Richmond. 

The  problem  before  him  did  not  seem  a  simple  one, 
and  minds  of  the  greatest  forecast  saw  difficulties  in  his 
way  they  could  not  solve.  But  Sherman  appeared  to 
have  no  trouble  about  it.  From  the  quiet,  confident  man- 
ner in  which  he  formed  his  plans  and  marked  down  the 
route  of  his  march,  one  would  think  there  was  but  one 
road  he  could  travel.  He  exhibits  no  hesitation  or 
doubt;  the  complications  that  confuse  others,  he  appa- 
rently does  not  see.  This  clear'  insight  as  to  the  right 
course  to  pursue,  and  the  unhesitating,  confident  manner 
in  which  he  adopts  it,  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
characteristics  of  the  man.  When  joined  with  unvarying 
success,  it  is  the  distinctive,  unerring  mark  of  true 
genius. 

Sherman  remained  not  quite  a  month  in  Savannah, 
resting  and  reorganizing  his  army,  and  refitting  it  before 
starting  on  his  third  and  final  campaign.  His  force,  of 
all  arms,  was  about  sixty-five  thousand  men,  divided  into 
four  corps,  with  an  army  train  consisting  of  four  thousand 
five  hundred  vehicles  of  all  kinds,  which,  if  stretched  out 
in  a  single  line  in  marching  order,  would  have  extended 
forty-five  miles.  But  it  was  divided  into  four  parts,  each 
moving  by  a  separate  road  to  avoid  crowding  and  con- 
fusion. The  distance  to  be  traversed  before  the  army 
should  reach  Goldsboro',  was  about  five  hundred  miles. 
One  of  the  most  important  divisions  of  the  army  on  this 
march  was  to  be  the  Construction  Corps.  Its  labors  had 
been  great  and  invaluable  from  the  time  Sherman  left 
Chattanooga ;  but,  from  the  numerous  broad  "rivers,  and 


CONSTRUCTION    CORPS.  215 

miles  and  miles  of  swamp  that  crossed  the  line  of  march 
now  before  him,  its  work  was  to  be  herculean.  Living 
on  platform  cars,  wading  to  their  necks  in  swamps  and 
rivers,  working  by  torch-light  and  day-light,  heedless  of 
cold  or  wet  or  pestiferous  air,  it  was  to  make  a  highway 
from  Savannah  to  Goldsboro',  for  this  wonderful  army. 
From  the  first,  it  had  seemed  to  carry  Aladdin's  lamp,  for 
at  its  approach  bridges  leaped  across  rivers,  wrecked  rail- 
roads rose  into  completeness,  obstructed  highways  became 
clear,  and  all  so  suddenly,  that  the  columns  scarcely 
stopped  marching.  The  people  of  the  country  wondered 
at  its  magical  power.  Once,  in  Georgia,  a  rebel  was  con- 
gratulating a  planter  on  the  destruction  of  a  tunnel  by 
Forrest.  "  Humph !  "  replied  the  latter,  "  Sherman  has 
got  a  duplicate  of  it." 

In  organizing  this  campaign,  Sherman  had  determined 
to  move  straight  on  Columbia,  as  his  first  objective  point 
But  to  reach  it  without  severe  battles,  it  was  of  vital  im- 
portance that  he  should,  at  the  outset,  divide  the  rebel 
forces  at  Augusta  from  those  at  Charleston  and  its  vicini- 
ty; for  if  they  should  be  concentrated  and  make  the 
rivers  successive  lines  of  defence,  they  would  at  least 
very  much  retard  his  progress  and  cut  up  his  army. 
Hence,  he  determined,  with  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  and  the 
left  wing  under  Slocum,  to  threaten  Augusta,  while,  with 
his  right,  under  Howard,  he  threatened  Branchville  and 
Charleston.  The  former,  therefore,  moved  off  up  the 
Savannah  towards  Augusta,  while  the  right  wing  was 
taken  to  Beaufort,  thence  to  the  main  land,  where  it  be- 
gan to  march  up  the  Charleston  railroad.  Augusta,  with 
its  arsenal,  machine-shops,  cotton,  rolling  stock,  &c.,  was 
of  vital  importance  to  the  rebels,  while  southern  pride 
could  not  consent  to  give  up  Charleston.  Had  John- 


216  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ston  been  in  command  here  instead  of  Beauregard,  he 
would  have  doubtless  caused  Sherman  a  good  deal  of 
trouble.  But  the  latter,  though  a  superb  engineer,  was 
not  an  able  commander,  and  made  a  fatal  mistake  at  the 
outset.  He  should  at  once  have  abandoned  both  these 
places,  and  concentrated  his  entire  force  on  the  Salka- 
hatchie.  If  Sherman  had  attempted  to  force  it,  he  would 
have  met  with  heavy  loss.  If  he  had  outflanked  him, 
Johnston  still  would  have  had  a  central  position,  and  been 
able  to  strike  his  flank  or  assail  him  while  crossing  rivers 
with  his  heavy  trains,  still  falling  back  so  as  to  reach  Colum- 
bia with  his  army  first.  But,  trying  to  hold  too  much, 
he  lost  everything,  and  that  without  fighting  a  battle. 

Though  delayed  a  long  time  by  heavy  rains  which 
made  the  Savannah  three  miles  wide  at  Sister's  Ferry, 
Slocum  and  Kilpatrick  at  length  crossed  over,  and  moved 
up  towards  Augusta.  Being  so  formidably  threatened, 
it  not  only  retained  its  garrison,  but  strengthened  it  by 
that  portion  of  Hood's  army  which,  under  Cheatam,  had 
arrived. 

Howard's  movement  on  the  right,  kept  the  troops  near 
Charleston  and  Branchville,  at  these  places,  till  our 
armies  quietly  slipped  in  between  the  two  forces,  hopelessly 
separating  them.  Sherman  had  advised  Grant  that  he  in- 
tended, with  one  stride,  to  reach  Goldsboro',  and  there  open 
his  communications  with  the  seaboard  by  way  of  Newbern, 
whither  Schofield  had  been  sent  to  co-operate  with  him. 
Col.  Wright,  superintendent  of  military  railroads,  was 
also  despatched  thither,  to  put  the  railroad  in  order,  so 
that  there  should  be  no  delay  in  the  movements  of  Scho- 
li eld's  army.  Those  who  wish  to  follow  the  movements 
of  the  two  wings  and  their  separate  corps,  can  consult 
Sherman's  report,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  book.  We 


THE    MARCH    COMMENCED.  217 

shall  confine  ourselves  to  a  general  description  of  the 
movements. 

The  supplies  for  the  right  wing  were  completed  at 
Pocotaligo,  and  those  for  the  left  at  Sister's  Ferry. 

The  floods,  from  the  heavy  rains  of  January,  having 
subsided,  Howard  moved  forward  on  the  last  day  of  the 
month,  while  Hatch's  division  remained  at  Pocotaligo,  to 
keep  up  the  appearance  of  marching  on  Charleston  by  the 
railroad  bridge  over  the  Salkahatchie,  at  that  point.  How- 
ard's corps,  as  it  moved  up  the  river,  found  all  the  roads 
obstructed  by  trees  felled  in  every  direction  across  them, 
while  the  bridges  over  the  minor  streams  were  burned ; 
but  the  pioneer  battalion  removed  the  one  and  rebuilt 
the  other,  before  the  rear  had  time  to  close  up.  Charles- 
ton lay  to  the  eastward  of  the  army,  while  Columbia  was 
in  a  direct  line  north.  A  railroad  runs  from  Charleston 
to  Augusta,  across  the  State,  with  Midway  station  half 
way  between,  and  lying  due  south  from  Columbia.  To 
this  point  the  right  wing  now  directed  its  course.  The 
rebels  held  the  Salkahatchie  in  force,  but,  as  narrated  in 
the  sketch  of  Howard,  the  line  of  the  enemy  was  broken 
here,  and4he  river  crossed  with  a  loss  to  us  of  less  than 
ninety  men.  The  army  then  pushed  on  for  the  railroad, 
which  they  reached  on  the  7th,  and  commenced  tearing 
up  the  track,  thus  effectually  dividing  the  rebel  forces  at 
Charleston  and  Augusta.  The  left  wing  did  the  same, 
striking  the  road  further  up,  toward  Augusta,  and  also 
commenced  the  work  of  destruction.  While  the  latter 
was  thus  employed,  the  right  wing  moved  north  on 
Orangeburo*.  leaving  the  astonished  rebels  on  the  demo- 

O  O'  O 

lished  road  at  Branchville  waiting  its  approach  toward 
Charleston,  directly  in  the  rear.  The  Edisto  here  fur- 
nished the  next  best  line  of  defence,  after  the  Salka- 


218  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

liatchie.  But  the  rebel  commander  had  so  long  thought . 
of  nothing  and  labored  for  nothing  but  Charleston,  that 
lie  could  not  be  persuaded  that  it  was  not  the  chief  ob- 
ject of  Sherman's  desires,  and  so  lay  behind  his  fortifica 
tions  at  Branchville  to  protect  it.  Still,  he  had  caused 
the  bridge  over  the  South  Edisto  to  be  burned,  and  sta- 
tioned a  force  at  the  spot  to  oppose  the  passage  of  our 
army.  Mower,  with  the  advance  division,  as  he  ap 
proached  the  burned  bridge  was  saluted  with  a  heavy  fire 
of  artillery,  which  arrested  his  progress.  Lower  down, 
however,  by  wading  to  the  armpits,  and  often  swimming, 
the  men  succeeded  in  launching  four  pontoon  boats  into 
the  water,  and  just  as  the  moon  was  rising,  the  division 
was  got  across,  which,  pouncing  upon  the  astonished  re- 
bels in  flank,  scattered  them  in  confusion  through 
the  moonlit  woods.  Two  days  after,  the  north  fork  was 
reached.  For  fifteen  miles  along  this  river,  the  spread- 
out  army  made  demonstrations  at  different  points,  so  that 
the  scattered  enemy  could  do  very  little  in  opposing  the 
passage,  except  by  skirmishing.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of 
Sherman,  that  he  is  almost  always  on  the  skirmish  line, 
hi  front,  where  he  can  see  personally  what  is  ^ing  on. 

The  rebel  force  in  Orangeburg  now  fled  north  to  Co- 
lumbia, and  this  place,  with  a  population  of  three  thou- 
sand, fell  into  our  hands.  A  conflagration,  however,  was 
raging  at  the  time,  which  the  soldiers,  under  the  orders  of 
Howard  and  Sherman,  labored  hard  to  extinguish.  The 
place  was  set  on  fire  by  a  Jew,  in  revenge  for  fifty  bales 
of  cotton  of  his  destroyed  by  the  rebels.  The  negro 
pioneers  here  ran  riot  among  the  ornamented  grounds  of 
the  wealthy  citizens.  Sherman  says :  "  Blair  was  then 
ordered  to  destroy  the  railroad  effectually  up  to  Lewis- 
ville,  and  to  push  the  enemy  across  the  Congaree,  and 


COLUMBIA   REACHED.  219 

force  him  to  burn  the  bridges,  which  he  did  on  the  14th; 
and  without  wasting  time  or  labor  on  Branchville  or 
Charleston,  which  I  knew  the  enemy  could  no  longer 
hold,  I  turned  all  the  columns  straight  on  Columbia.18 
The  left  wing  swept  on  in  the  same  direction  farther  to 
the  west.  Over  the  Edisto — across  swamps  and  streams 
— straight  through  the  heart  of  the  proud,  rebellious 
State,  the  mighty  columns  moved  with  resistless  power, 
till  on  the  16th,  Howard  drew  up  on  the  banks  of  the 
Saluda,  in  front  of  Columbia.  An  hour  later  the  head 
of  the  advance  column  of  the  left  wing  appeared  on  the 
shore  of  the  same  stream,  farther  to  the  west,  and  the 
capital  of  South  Carolina  lay  under  our  guns.  The 
Mayor  surrendered  the  city,  and  Sherman,  in  anticipation 
of  it,  says :  "I  made  written  orders  to  General  Howard, 
touching  the  conduct  of  the  troops.  These  were  to  de- 
stroy absolutely  all  arsenals  and  public  property  not  need- 
ed for  our  own  use,  as  well  as  all  railroads,  depots,  and 
machinery  useful  in  war  to  an  enemy,  but  to  spare  all 
colleges,  dwellings,  schools,  asylums,  and  harmless  private 
property.  I  was  the  first  to  cross  the  pontoon  bridge, 
and  in  company  with  General  Howard,  rode  into  the 
city.  The  day  was  clear,  but  a  perfect  tempest  of  wind 
was  raging.  The  brigade  of  Colonel  Stone  was  already 
in  the  city,  and  properly  posted.  Citizens  and  soldiers 
were  in  the  streets,  and  general  good  order  prevailed. 
General  Wade  Hampton,  who  commanded  the  Confederate 
rear-guard  of  cavalry,  in  anticipation  of  our  capture  of 
Columbia,  had  ordered  that  all  cotton,  public  and  private, 
should  be  moved  into  the  streets,  and  fired,  to  prevent  our 
making  use  of  it.  Bales  were  piled  everywhere,  the  rope 
and  bagging  cut,  and  tufts  of  cotton  were  blown  about  in 
wind,  lodged  in  the  trees  and  against  houses,  so  as  to 


220  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

resemble  a  snow  storm.  Some  of  these  piles  of  cotton  were 
burning,  especially  one  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  near 
the  court-house,  but  the  fire  was  partially  subdued  by  the 
labors  of  our  soldiers."  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
army  did  not  enter  Columbia.  The  Fifteenth  Corps 
alone  marched  through,  and  encamped  beyond  on  the 
Camden  road.  The  Seventeenth  did  not  enter  the  place 
at  all,  while  the  entire  left  wing  and  cavalry  did  not  come 
within  two  miles  of  the  city.  A  single  brigade  was 
placed  within  it  on  duty.  Sherman  says:  "Before  a  sin- 
gle public  building  had  been  fired  by  order,  the  wind  had 
fanned  the  smouldering  fire  in  the  cotton  bales  into  a  flame, 
which  extended  to  the  houses,  and  soon  after  dark  the  city 
was  wrapped  in  a  fearful  conflagration.  Wood's  division 
was  now  brought  in  to  help  subdue  the  flames,  and  the 
soldiers  went  to  work  with  a  will.  I,"  says  Sherman, 
"was  up  nearly  all  night,  and  saw  Generals  Howard,  Lo- 
gan, Wood,  and  others,  laboring  to  save  houses  and  fam- 
ilies, thus  suddenly  deprived  of  shelter,  and  of  bedding 
and  wearing  apparel.  I  disclaim,  on  the  part  of  my 
army,  any  agency  in  this  fire,  but,  on  the  contrary,  claim 
that  we  saved  of  Columbia  what  remains  unconsumed." 
He  acknowledges — what  any  one  acquainted  with  armies 
would  know  must  be  inevitable — that,  while  the  officers 
and  men  worked  hard  to  extinguish  the  flames,  "others 
not  on  duty,  including  the  officers  who  had  long  been  im- 
prisoned there,  rescued  by  me,  may  have  assisted  in 
spreading  the  fire  after  it  had  begun,  and  may  have  in- 
dulged in  unconcealed  joy  to  see  the  ruin  of  the  capital 
of  South  Carolina."  This  is  a  matter  of  course,  and 
^ould  not  be  otherwise  with  any  army,  but  an  army  of 
saints,  and  hardly  then,  we  fear,  unless  the  soldiers  had 
more  grace  than  ordinarily  good  men  possess. 


ANECDOTES.  221 

An  incident  occurred  in  one  of  the  principal  streets, 
characteristic  of  Sherman.  He  suddenly  came  upon  some 
of  our  prisoners  who,  when  the  main  body  of  them  was 
removed  to  Charlotte  managed  to  escape,  and  were  hidden 
by  the  negroes.  They  now  crawled  forth  from  their 
hiding  places,  to  greet  the  old  flag,  and  sent  up  loud  cheers 
for  Sherman.  The  latter  took  each  tattered,  wan  fellow 
by  the  hand,  and  shaking  it  warmly,  bade  him  welcome 
back  again  to  the  arms  of  his  brave  old  comrades.  Here, 
or  at  Rcileigh,  another  curious  incident  occurred.  An 
inmate  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum,  formerly  from  Massachu- 
setts, came  to  him,  requesting  him  to  make  out  his  papers. 
Sherman  put  him » off  with  a  vague  promise,  telling  the 
poor  lunatic  to  put  his  trust  in  God,  who  would  take  care 
of  him.  The  latter  looked  up  doubtingly,  when  Sherman 
kindly  asked  him  if  he  did  not  believe  in  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, that  had  power  to  protect  him.  The  old  man  hesi- 
tated a  moment,  then  fixing  an  earnest  look  on  him  replied 
hesitatingly,  "  Why,  yes,  I  believe  in  a  sort  of  Divine 
Providence,  but  as  to  power,  I  think  a  man  who  has  been 
tramping  over  the  country  whipping  these  cursed  rebels, 
has  more  power  than  any  body  that  I  know  of." 

Having  destroyed  all  the  public  buildings  except  the 
State  capitol,  and  leaving  enough  provisions  behind  to 
sustain,  for  some  time,  the  homeless  population  of  the 
place,  he  moved  his  superb  force  north,  followed  by  a  vast 
horde  of  negroes  and  refugees. 

The  army  being  spread  out  as  much  as  possible,  in 
order  to  obtain  forage,  it  moved  over  the  fertile  country 
like  the  locusts  of  Egypt.  A  garden  was  before  them,  a 
desert  behind  them.  The  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the 
State  had  seen  but  little  of  the  Yankees,  and  the  steady 
on-pouring  columns,  with  their  long  trains,  filled  them 


222  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

with  unbounded  astonishment,  while  the  woods  and  fields 
far  and  near,  rang  with  music  it  was  thought  would  never 
be  heard  there.  "John  Brown's  Soul  is  Marching  on," 
"  Rally  round  the  Flag/'  interspersed  on  Sabbath  days 
with  "  Old  Hundred,"  and  "Hail  Columbia,"  filled  the 
air  with  strange  melody  to  these  "  sons  of  the  chivalry." 

Beauregard,  as  we  have  noticed,  with  his  army  and 
prisoners  had  retired  to  Charlotte,  whither  Cheatam  was 
making  his  way  from  Augusta,  to  join  him. 

Wynnesboro,  northwest  from  Columbia,  was  reached 
on  the  21st  of  February — Kilpatrick's  cavalry  all  this 
time  well  out  on  the  left.  It  now  seemed  plain  to  Beau- 
regard  that  Sherman  would  keep  on  north  to  Charlotte, 
and  thence  to  Danville,  and  for  aught  he  knew,  strike 
through  the  rough  country  to  Lynchburg.  In  fact,  a 
general  so  apparently  eccentric,  and  so  totally  bewildering 
in  his  movements,  might  take  it  in  his  head  to  go  any- 
where; hence  he  could  think  of  no  safer  course  than  to 
draw  in  his  forces,  and  concentrate  them  at  Charlotte. 
Heavy  rains  now  began  to  set  in,  yet  for  two  days  Sher- 
man kept  on  northwesterly  toward  Charlotte,  the  sun 
each  morning  rising  over  the  right  shoulders  of  the  army. 
It  seemed  probable  that  he  would  persevere  in  this  course, 
for  the  streams  on  this  route  were  not  so  defensible  as  to 
the  east ;  but  on  the  23d,  the  army  suddenly  swung  on  a 
grand  right  wheel,  and  turning  its  face  to  the  rising  sun, 
moved  rapidly  off  toward  Fayetteville.  Through  the  pelt- 
tins;  northeast  storm,  beating  in  their  faces — over  the 

o  /  o 

rocky  country,  or  floundering  through  swamps — wading 
or  swimming  rivers  here,  and  spanning  them  with  pon- 
toons there,  the  army  like  a  mighty  athlete  kept  on  its  re- 
sistless way,  regardless  of  storm  and  mud  and  swollen 
streams  and  foes  alike.  Bivouacking  in  the  dripping  pine 


FAYETTEVILLE    REACHED.  223 

forests,  or  on  the  bleak  hill  side,  seemed  alike  to  these 
thrice  hardened  veterans.  Once  across  the  Catawba,  Sher- 
man struck  for  the  Pedee  at  Cheraw.  Nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago  those  streams  presented  an  effectual  barrier  to 
Cornwallis  in  pursuit  of  Greene,  but  now,  though  swollen 
and  angry  floods,  they  were  no  obstruction  to  this  indomi- 
table man,  who  seemed  to  heed  the  forces  of  nature  no 
more  than  those  of  man. 

In  the  mean  time  the  news  reached  the  army,  that 
Charleston  was  evacuated,  and  our  flag  flying  over  the 
ruined  ramparts  of  Fort  Sumter. 

The  rebels  made  a  stand  at  Cheraw,  but  were  swept 
away  like  chaff  by  the  tempest,  leaving  twenty-five  can- 
non in  Sherman's  hands.  Here  the  left  and  right  wings 
met  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  Savannah. 

Now  marching  in  the  clear  sunlight,  and  again  breast- 
ing all  day  long  a  deluge  of  rain,  the  army  toiled  forward, 
and  on  the  12th  of  March  reached  Fayetteville,  Here 
was  an  arsenal,  and  all  the  appliances  for  manufacturing 
war  material  for  the  enemy,  which  were  soon  a  mass  of 
ruins. 

Previous  to  reaching  the  place,  Sherman  had  des- 
patched trusty  scouts  to  Wilmington,  ninety  miles  distant, 
to  announce  his  near  approach ;  and  the  same  day  that 
the  heads  of  his  columns  appeared  on  the  banks  of  Cape 
Fear  River,  the  United  States  tug  Davidson,  arrived 
from  Wilmington,  bringing  news  irom  the  outer  world, 
and  opening  communication  with  Terry.  Her  advent 
was  hailed  with  shouts  by  the  soldiers. 

After  a  few  hours'  delay,  she  was  sent  back  with 
despatches  from  Sherman  to  Terry  at  Wilmington,  and 
Schofield  at  Newbern,  telling  them  that  on  the  15th,  he 
should  start  for  Goldsboro,  and  expected  to  be  there  in 


224  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

about,  five  days,  and  directing  them  to  move  straight  for 
the  same  place,  and  join  him  there.  The  planting  of 
these  armies  on  the  sea-board  was  a  wise  provision,  for 
Sherman  knew  he  would  need  them.  By  his  masterly  stra- 
tegy and  swift  marching,  he  had  up  to  this  time  managed 
to  keep  his  army  between  the  divided  forces  of  the  enemy, 
so  that  nowhere  in  his  long  march,  had  he  found  him 
strong  enough  to  give  battle.  But  this  was  now  changed. 
He  knew  that  Beauregard,  at  Charlotte,  had  been  rein- 
forced by  Cheatam  and  the  garrison  at  Augusta,  and 
had  had  ample  time  to  move  round  to  Haleigh.  Har- 
dee,  too,  had  evacuated  Charleston  in  time  to  keep  ahead 
of  him,  and  was  moving  to  the  same  point.  It  was  easy 
for  Johnston  and  Hoke  in  North  Carolina  also  to  effect  a 
junction  with  these  forces,  swelling  them  to  a  formidable 
army.  They  being  no  longer  divided,  would  meet  him 
somewhere,  he  knew,  in  a  desperate  battle,  which  would 
decide  the  fate  of  the  campaign. 

On  the  15th,  he  again  put  his  army  in  motion,  ascend- 
ing the  Cape  Fear  river  with  a  portion  of  it,  to  make  the 
rebels  believe  he  was  aiming  at  Raleigh.  Goldsboro,  the 
point  he  wished  to  reach,  is  not  on  this  river,  but  on  the 
Neuse,  farther  north,  which  empties  into  the  sea  at  New- 
bern.  Hardee,  who  had  retreated  from  Fayetteville  on 
Sherman's  approach,  the  latter  thought  from  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  map,  would  make  a  stand  in  a  narrow  swampy 
neck  between  Cape  Fear  and  South  rivers.  His  conjec- 
ture proved  correct,  for  here  Kilpatrick  found  him,  and 
sent  back  for  Slocum,  who  coming  up  fought  the  battle 
of  Averysboro,  defeating  the  rebels.  Our  loss  was  not 
over  six  hundred,  while  from  the  number  of  the  rebel 
dead  left  on  the  field,  that  of  the  enemy  must  have  been 
double. 


BATTLE    OF   BENTONVILLE.  225 

The  next  day  this  portion  of  the  army  stopped  its 
feint  on  Raleigh,  and  making  a  right  wheel,  moved  off 
toward  Bentonville,  to  the  northeast,  whither  in  a  direct 
line,  Howard  was  marching;  "wallowing,"  as  Sherman 
expressed  it,  uin  the  miry  roads." 

On  the  18th,  Slocum  was  five  miles  from  the  place, 
and  Howard  farther  east,  only  a  short  distance  off.  The 
next  day,  Sherman,  not  dreaming  that  the  enemy  in  any 
force  was  near,  left  Slocum,  and  rode  across  the  country 
to  see  Howard.  He  had  gone,  however,  only  about  six 
miles,  when  he  heard  the  heavy  roar  of  artillery  behind 
him,  in  the  direction  of  Slocum  ;  but  one  of  the  latter's 
staff  officers  soon  overtook  him,  saying,  that  it  was 
merely  an  affair  between  Carlin's  division  and  the  rebel 
cavalry,  and  that  the  latter  were  being  driven.  Soon 
after,  however,  other  officers  arrived,  telling  him  that 
Slocum  had  suddenly  come  upon  the  whole  of  Johnston's 
army.  He  immediately  sent  back  word  to  Slocum  to 
stand  on  the  defensive  until  he  could  hurry  up  troops  to 
his  help.  His  staff  were  soon  flying  with  the  speed  of 
wind  over  the  country,  one  pushing  for  Blair's  corps, 
others  for  the  three  divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  corps. 
While  thus  standing  on  the  road  and  writing  his  orders, 
couriers  came  dashing  up  from  both  Schofield  and  Terry. 
Despatches  were  immediately  sent  back  for  them  to  push 
on  toward  Goldsboro.  Another  order  directed  Blair  to 
make  a  night  march  to  Falling  Creek  Church,  and 
another  to  Howard,  to  move  without  his  wagons  at  day- 
light on  Bentonville.  The  gallant  Slocum,  however,  had 
in  the  meantime  deployed  his  line  of  battle,  and  in  posi- 
tion received  like  a  rock  six  successive  assaults  of  the  com- 
bined forces  of  Hoke,  Hardee,  and  Cheatam,  under  John- 
ston, By  next  evening  Howard  was  up,  and  the  rebel 

15 


226  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

leader,  behind  his  intrenchments,  saw  himself  confronted 
by  a  line  of  battle  it  would  be  in  vain  to  dash  against 
A  portion  of  Howard's  troops  had  marched  twenty-five 
miles  on  empty  stomachs.  Some  hard  fighting  for  posi- 
tion now  took  place  ;  but  Sherman  finally  got  everything 
as  he  wanted  it.  He  did  not  wish  at  this  point  or  junc- 
ture to  make  an  assault  or  bring  on  a  pitched  battle,  and 
so  the  rainy,  gloomy  day  wore  away  in  heavy  skirmish- 
ing and  severe  fighting  in  different  parts  of  the  line.  At 
night  Johnston  retreated. 

The  battle  was  emphatically  Slocum's.  He  reported 
between  twelve  and  thirteen  hundred  loss ;  Howard,  on 
the  right,  four  hundred ;  while  the  latter  buried  a  hundred 
rebel  dead,  and  took  nearly  thirteen  hundred  prisoners. 

Goldsboro  now  lay  at  Sherman's  feet.  Directing  the 
cavalry  and  Howard  to  remain  that  day  on  the  field  and 
bury  the  dead,  he  gave  orders  for  all  the  armies  to  move 
the  next  day  to  the  camps  assigned  them  around  Golds- 
boro. He  himself  rode  back  to  Cox's  Bridge  to  meet 
Terry,  and  the  next  day  entered  Goldsboro,  where  he 
found  Schofield  already  arrived. 

The  point  for  which  he  started  when  he  left  Atlanta 
the  autumn  before,  was  at  last  reached,  and  the  campaign 
virtually  ended.  And  what  a  march  it  had  been.  A  de- 
solated tract  of  country,  forty  miles  wide,  and  between 
two  and  three  hundred  miles  long,  across  the  State  of 
Georgia ;  and  then  one  equally  wide  and  far  more  deso- 
late, for  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  to  the  heart  of  North 
Carolina,  marked  its  line  of  progress.  For  two  months 
he  had  been  shut  up  in  a  hostile  country. 

Sherman  now  gave  the  army  to  the  10th  of  April  to 
rest  and  refit,  preparatory  to  the  next  move.  Quarter- 
master-General Meigs  came  down,  and  in  a  fortnight 


VISIT   TO    GRANT.  227 

20,000  men  were  supplied  with  shoes,  and  100,000  with 
clothing  and  everything  necessary  for  another  campaign. 
'On  all  the  slopes  around  Goldsboro,  in  the  solemn  pine 
forests  and  spreading  fields,  the  tents  of  the  army  were 
pitched,  and  the  toil-worn  veterans  took  a  long  holiday. 

In  the  meantime,  Sherman  turned  over  the  army  to 
Schofield,  and  went  to  City  Point  to  meet  Grant,  where 
he  also  saw  the  President,  who  welcomed  him  with  the 
greatest  cordiality.  Grant  here  informed  him  of  his  in- 
tended movement  on  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  and  direct- 
ed him  to  co-operate  with  him  in  that  direction.  On  the 
return  of  the  latter  to  Goldsboro,  he  immediately,  in 
accordance  with  this  plan,  issued  his  orders  to  move  to- 
wards Weldon,  and  the  line  of  the  Roanoke.  He  was  just 
ready  to  start,  when  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Petersburg 
and  Richmond  reached  him.  As  the  glorious  tidings 
passed  through  the  camps,  shout  after  shout  went  up,  till 
the  heavens  rang  again. 

Of  course  this  new  aspect  of  affairs  caused  a  change 
in  Sherman's  plans.  Co-operation  with  Grant  was  now 
useless,  and  he  at  once  turned  his  attention  to  Johnston. 
On  the  10th,  therefore,  he  took  up  his  line  of  march  for 
Smithfield,  where  the  latter  lay.  As  he  advanced,  the 
enemy  retired  towards  Raleigh,  destroying  the  bridges  on 
the  way.  Sherman  followed,  and  on  the  13th  received 
the  news  of  Lee's  surrender.  It  flew  like  wild-fire  through 
the  army,  which  went  crazy  with  excitement.  Cheer 
succeeded  cheer,  and  shout  followed  shout.  When  tired 
with  expressing  their  joy  in  this  form,  the  soldiers  began 
to  yell,  till  pandemonium  seemed  broken  loose.  Sherman 
was  almost  as  much  excited  as  his  brave  troops,  and  in 
deep  exultation  exclaimed,  "Glory  to  God  and  our  glori- 
ous country." 


, 


228  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

The  troops  now  moved  forward  with  elastic  tread, 
skirmishing  as  the  columns  advanced,  with  the  enemy. 
But  the  boom  of  artillery  that  day,  along  the  front, 
sounded  to  their  ears  more  like  the  salvos  of  artillery  on 
a  Fourth  of  July  morning,  than  the  prelude  to  battle. 
That  night  the  army  rested  within  fourteen  miles  of 
Raleigh. 

On  the  14th,  Sherman  entered  the  place.  Envoys 
had  previously  reached  him  from  the  city,  which  he  sent 
back  with  assurances  that  the  property  of  the  citizens 
should  be  protected.  Here  he  halted  a  short  time,  and 
then  prepared  to  follow  up  Johnston.  The  latter,  on  the 
15th,  sent  a  letter  to  him,  asking  if  some  arrangement 
could  not  be  made  to  prevent  the  further  useless  effusion 
of  blood.  Sherman  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  listen  to 
any  terms,  looking  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  Johnston 
then  requested  a  personal  interview,  and  the  next  day  at 
noon,  the  two  met  upon  the  road ;  and,  advancing,  shook 
hands  as  cordially  as  though  they  were  old  friends  meet- 
ing after  a  long  separation,  instead  of  enemies,  who  had  for 
a  year  been  seeking  each  other's  destruction.  They  then 
adjourned  to  a  neighboring  farm-house  for  consultation, 
while  their  respective  staffs  fell  into  friendly  conversation. 
Already  had  war  begun  to  smooth  his  rugged  brow. 
Johnston,  dressed  in  a  grey  uniform,  with  a  beard  and 
moustache  of  snowy  whiteness,  presented  a  striking  ap- 
pearance. He  asked  for  four  days1  cessation  of  hostilities, 
which  Sherman  refused  to  grant,  and  a  meeting  for  the 
next  day  was  fixed  upon.  They  met  at  the  same  hour, 
attended  by  their  splendidly  mounted  staffs,  and  courte- 
ously lifting  their  hats  to  each  other,  shook  hands,  and 
then  dismounted  and  walked  together  to  the  farm-house. 
Breckenridge  was  present  on  this  day,  and  terms  of  surrender 


THE    ARMISTICE.  229 

were  offered,  which  embraced  other  than  -nilitary  matters, 
and  Sherman,  not  feeling  authorized  to  deal  with  them, 
consented  to  an  armistice  till  they  could  be  forwarded  to 
Washington. 

These  the  government  refused  to  accept,  and  sent 
General  Grant  down  to  assume  direction  of  affairs.  He 
arrived  on  the  25th,  and  Johnston  finally  surrendered  on 
the  same  terms  that  had  been  granted  to  Lee. 

Sherman  knew  that  an  armistice  of  forty-eight  hours, 
during  which  both  armies  were  to  remain  in  precisely  the 
same  position  they  then  occupied,  could  make  no  possible 
change  in  the  final  result,  and  so  did  as  thousands  have 
done  before  him,  consented  to  it,  till  the  terms  of  the 
rebel  General  could  be  sent  to  Washington.  It  was  a 
very  simple,  ordinary  affair  altogether,  and  would  have 
scarcely  excited  a  remark,  but  for  the  extraordinary  silly 
fuss  made  over  it  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  proper  and  dignified  course  would  have  been,  not 
to  have  made  the  matter  public  at  all,  but  quietly  sent 
down  a  messenger,  stating  that  the  terms  were  inadmis- 
sible, and  directing  Sherman  to  resume  hostilities. 
But  instead  of  this,  he  gave  to  the  public  nine  reasons 
why  the  terms  could  not  be  agreed  to  ;  the  first  of  which 
was  certainly  a  most  remarkable  one,  viz.,  that  Sherman 
knew  as  well  as  Johnston  that  he  had  no  right  to  make 
them.  It  would  puzzle  a  man  to  see  how  that  was  any 
reason  at  all.  General  Sherman's  ignorance  or  knowledge 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  propriety  of  the  terms.  The 
propositions  rested  solely  on  their  own  merits.  Indeed 
there  was  no  necessity  for  giving  any  reasons  at  all.  It 
was  only  necessary  to  say  they  were  rejected  by  the 
President,  and  to  give  in  place  of  them,  the  terms  that 
would  be  accorded.  The  first  reason,  therefore,  is  no 


230  MAJOR-GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

reason  at  all,  and  Stanton  knew  it.  It  was  a  charge 
against  Sherman — an  accusation  that  almost  implied 
disloyalty.  It  seemed  uttered  on  purpose  to  wound  and 
humble  him  in  the  very  hour  of  triumph.  The  whole 
document,  as  given  to  the  public,  looked  as  if  it  were  in- 
tended to  inflame  the  popular  feeling  against  him. 
Under  the  excitement  caused  by  the  President's  assassi- 
nation, the  public  mind  was  unreasoning  and  wild,  and 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  Sherman  had  made  a  final 
settlement  with  Johnston  disgraceful  to  the  nation ;  when 
he  had  simply  sent  to  Washington  the  propositions  that 
had  been  offered.  That  he  thought  them  proper  or  not  is 
solely  a  personal  matter.  Halleck,  in  his  dispatches  to 
the  different  commanders  in  Sherman's  department,  di- 
recting them  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  armistice,  par- 
took of  the  same  spirit  as  that  which  characterized  the 
document  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  press  took  up 
the  cry,  till  an  impartial  observer  would  have  inferred 
that  we  had  suddenly  discovered  one  of  our  greatest 
Generals  to  be  a  traitor,  and  that,  instead  of  ovations,  arrest 
and  imprisonment  awaited  him.  All  this  was  brought 
about  by  the  indiscreet,  undignified  display  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton's  ardent  patriotism — a  patriotism  so  intense  and 
absorbing  that1  it  made  him  forget  the  high  position 
he  occupied.  Not  satisfied  with  this  exhibition  of  his 
peculiar  devotion  to  his  country,  he  gave  to  the  public 
a  telegram,  which  he  had  formerly  sent  to  Grant — im- 
plying that  Sherman  had  seen  it  and,  therefore,*  had 
instructions  respecting  the  course  he  was  expected  to 
pursue. 

The  latter,  in  his  straightforward  way,  says,  "  Now  I 
was  not  in  possession  of  it,  and  I  have  reason  to  know 
that  Mr.  Stanton  knew  that  I  was  not  in  possession  of  it."" 


PUBLIC   INGRATITUDE.  231 

This  is  a  very  grave  charge,  but  one  that  Mr.  Stanton 
has  not  seen  fit  to  meet 

We  have  not  space  to  go  fully  into  this  disgraceful 
affair ;  but  for  the  sake  of  those  readers  who  wish  to  see 
a  thorough  vindication  of  General  Sherman,  we  give  the 
documents  in  full  at  the  close  of  the  volume. 

Sherman  felt  deeply  wounded  by  this  unwarrantable 
attack  upon  him  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  backed  up  by 
the  press,  as  well  he  might  Chase,  in  a  manly  spirit, 
took  occasion  at  this  particular  crisis  to  contribute  to  the 
fund  being  raised  to  give  Sherman  a  house,  accompany- 
ing it  with  a  generous  note,  in  which  he  expressed  his 
high  admiration  of  his  character  and  deeds. 

This  man,  who  for  four  long  years  had  been  perilling 
his  life  on  the  battle-field — lifting,  by  his  genius  and  tri- 
umphs, his  country  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  military 
renown,  and  carrying  it  forward  to  the  haven  of  peace, 
was  assailed  with  a  virulence  that  in  after  years  will  ap- 
pear like  a  farce,  except  for  the  memory  of  the  grief  that 
it  brought  to  a  noble,  loyal  heart.     True  to  his  country^ 
interests,  he  would  not  leave  his  post,  even  to  follow  the 
corpse  of  his  favorite  boy,  that  bore  his  own  name,  to  his 
distant  grave  in  Ohio,  but,  with  breaking  heart,  saw  it 
depart  with  his  mother  alone,  then  turned  to  his  army 
with  the  order  "  forward."     Toilsome  days  and  sleepless 
nights  had  been  pased,  hardships  untold  endured,  death 
in  every  shape  encountered,  yet  he  had  pressed  on  over 
all  obstacles,  till  his  victorious  banners  attracted  the  gaze 
of  the  world,  and  brought  hope  and  joy  to  his  country; 
and  just  when  his  toils  were  ended,  and  the  crushing  care 
that  for  four  years  had  weighed  him  down  was  lifting 
from  his  heart,  and  the  smile  of  complete  success  wa* 
wreathing  his  countenance,  he  was  assailed  with  the  bitter- 


232  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ness  of  a  deadly  foe.  How,  then,  must  have  come  back  to 
him  the  pregnant  maxim,  "Republics  are  ungrateful" 
What  a  mournful  echo  there  is  in  the  words  he  uses 
when  speaking  of  those  "  men  who  sleep  in  comfort  and 
security  while  we  watch  on  the  distant  lines."  Aye, 
watching,  sleeplessly  watching  "  on  the  distant  lines," 
only  to  be  the  more  traduced  by  those  whom  no  motive 
could  induce  to  shoulder  a  musket. 

But  history  will  right  this  matter ;  and  though  Mr. 
Stanton,  if  he  lives  long  enough,  will  be  compelled,  at 
some  future  day,  to  read  over  his  whole  record  by  a 
different  light  than  that  of  the  present,  and  to  a  different 
auditory,  no  part  of  it  will  be  more  difficult  to  get  over 
than  that  which  narrates  his  treatment  of  Sherman. 

With  the  return  of  peace  his  army  was  ordered  home. 
Scorning  the  proffered  hospitalities  of  Halleck  at  Rich- 
mond, he  marched  sternly  forward  at  the  head  of  his 
columns. 

As  he  rode  in  front  of  his  veterans  through  the  streets 
of  Washington,  the  deafening  hurrahs  that  greeted  him 
showed  that  the  heart  of  the  people  was  right.  After- 
wards, all  along  his  route  to  the  West,  the  crowds  and 
shouts  that  welcomed  him,  gave  him  the  same  pleasing 
assurance. 

He  is  now  in  command  of  the  military  division  of 

V 

the  Mississippi,  with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis. 

HIS    CHARACTER. 

t 

In  personal  appearance,  Sherman  exhibits  but  few  of 
the  traits  popularly  ascribed  to  a  hero,  for  he  is,  on  the 
whole,  a  plain-looking  man.  Though  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  with  a  somewhat  lean,  though  muscular  frame, 


HIS    CHARACTER.  235 

his  appearance  has  nothing  commanding  in  it.  He  is  a 
bundle  of  nerves,  which  make  him  quick  in  his  move- 
ments, and  very  restless.  His  eyes,  which  are  of  a  light 
brown,  are  restless  as  his  body,  and  have  a  sharp,  pierc- 
ing expression.  The  firm  manner  in  which  his  lips  close 
indicates  his  firmness  and  decision  of  character.  Careless 
of  his  personal  appearance,  he  usually  wears  a  dingy  uni- 
form— the  coat  never  buttoned,  and  the  vest  only  by  the 
lower  button.  "  Old  Sam,"  his  favorite  horse,  when  he 
gives  the  order  "forward"  to  battle,  is  a  tremendous 
walker,  and  moves  off  into  shot  and  shell  as  unconcern- 
edly as  his  master.  Like  Grant,  he  is  an  inveterate 
smoker,  but  evidently  does  not  enjoy  a  cigar  like  him. 
The  former  will  smoke  slowly,  leaning  back  in  his  chair, 
his  whole  appearance  indicating  repose  and  perfect  con- 
tentment. Sherman,  on  the  contrary,  smokes  as  though 
he  were  under  obligations  to  finish  his  cigar  as  speedily  as 
possible.  The  puffs  come  fast  and  furious,  and  shoot 
from  his  mouth  as  though  he  were  firing  off  a  pistol. 
Every  few  moments  he  snatches  it  from  his  lips,  and 
brushes  off  the  ashes,  as  if  he  wanted  to  see  how  near 
through  with  it  he  had  got.  He  is  abrupt  and  rapid  in 
conversation,  shingling  his  sentences  one  on  to  the 
other,  and  never  scruples  to  interrupt  one,  though  he  does 
not  like  to  be  interrupted  himself.  In  the  field,  he  hates 
long  stories,  and  cuts  short  a  report  .the  moment  he  gets 
the  substance  of  it.  He  is  perhaps  too  brusque  in  his 
manner  to  be  pleasant,  but  it  is  not  a  fault  of  temper — it 
is  a  peculiarity  always  connected  with  a  temperament  like 
his.  A  nature  which  will  never  let  a  man  keep  still  does 
not  exhibit  itself  in  rounded,  graceful  forms  and  curves. 
A  man  who,  when  he  has  nothing  else  to  do,  will  beat  a  tat- 
too with  "his  fingers  on  a  chair  or  window,  or  whittle  for 


234  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

want  of  occupation,  is  always  one  of  sharp  angles.  With 
him,  as  with  all  nervous  men  of  great  mental  strength, 
danger  acts  apparently  as  a  sedative.  In  a  terrible  crisis, 
or  when  riding  along  the  edge  of  battle,  his  manner  be- 
comes toned  down.  In  such  moments,  the  nervous  sys- 
tem gets  wound  up  so  tightly,  that  each  nerve  seems  made 
of  wire. 

He  has  a  constitution  of  iron,  which  neither  cold  nor 
rain,  nor  heat,  nor  miasma,  seems  to  affect. 

Ever  on  the  alert,  his  first  act  when  roused  from  repose 
by  the  distant  sound  of  cannon  and  musketry,  is  usually 
to  light  a  segar.  If  the  firing  increases,  he  mounts  "  Old 
Sam,"  and  rides  forward  to  the  front,  where,  leaving  his 
horse  in  the  care  of  an  orderly,  he  walks  toward  the  spot 
where  the  volleys  are  heaviest. 

But  with  all  his  abruptness  and  curtness  of  manner, 
Sherman  is  at  times  a  very  social  man,  and  enters  into  a 
frolic  with  great  zest. 

His  scorn  of  pretence,  mock  philanthropy,  and  as- 
sumed piety,  and  of  all  shams,  is  intense  and  unbounded. 
Straightforward,  and  without  hypocrisy  himself,  he  hates 
duplicity  in  others.  He  is  naturally  cautious  and  suspi- 
cious, for  he  finds  few  men  open  and  undisguised  as  him- 
self. He  has  a  keen  penetration  of  character,  and  quickly 
sounds  the  depth  of  those  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact. His  heart  is  kind  as  it  is  great,  and  in  talking  with 
children,  all  the  stern  lines  of  his  face  disappear.  He  is 
a  warm  friend,  but  at  the  same  time  a  good  hater.  His 
memory  of  persons  and  details  is  wonderful,  and  like 
Bonaparte,  he  knows  everything  that  is  going  on  in  his 
army. 

As  a  military  man,  Sherman  has  few  equals  in  the 
world,  and  he  possesses  all  the  qualities  that  go  to  make 


HIS    CHARACTER.  235 

np  a  great  commander.  He  has  that  peculiarity  of 
Bonaparte  which  gave  him  such  tremendous  power ;  great 
rapidity  of  thought,  and  yet  correctness  of  conclusion. 
His  mind  moves  with  the  speed  of  lightning,  and  yet 
with  the  accuracy  and  steadiness  of  naked  reason.  So 
swiftly  does  he  rush  to  conclusions,  that  many  of  his 
friends  seem  to  think  he  arrives  at  them  by  intuition. 
He  can  decide  quickly  and  correctly  too.  He  unites  two 
opposite  natures  in  one,  the  careful,  methodical  man,  with 
the  quick  and  impetuous  one.  This  power  of  thinking 
quickly  and  correctly  too,  is  a  tremendous  one.  It  allows 
the  possessor  of  it  to  be  executing  plans,  while  his  enemy 
is  forming  them. 

To  a  courage  that  no  danger  can  daunt,  and  an 
energy  that  nothing  can  tire,  and  a  perseverance  that  will 
not  admit  of  defeat,  there  is  added  in  him  a  profound 
strategic  skill.  His  power  of  combination  is  wonderful. 
He  can  embrace  vast  fields  and  almost  innumerable 
contingencies  in  his  plans,  and  yet  reduce  the  latter  to  a 
simplicity  that  makes  one  forget  the  power  which  was 
required  to  do  it. 

Ha  alone,  of  all  our  generals,  has  cut  loose  from  some 
of  the  established  rules  of  military  science,  and  yet  suc- 
ceeded. Operating  with  a  large  army  successfully,  a  hun- 
dred miles  or  more  from  its  base,  has  been  regarded  an 
impossibility.  Yet  he  did  this  in  his  Atlanta  campaign. 
Cutting  entirely  loose  from  any  base,  and  swinging  off 
into  open  air  and  becoming  an  independent  machine,  fight- 
ing, foraging  and  marching  all  the  time  in  an  enemy's 
country,  has  been  regarded  still  more  impossible.  Yet 
he  did  that  in  his  Georgia  and  Carolina  campaigns ;  nearly 
two  months  at  a  time  swallowed  up  in  a  hostile  country, 
and  yet  at  the  end  emerging  into  view  with  men  and 


236  MAJOR-GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

animals  in  a  better  condition  than  when  he  stalled. 
These  campaigns,  like  the  first  Napoleon's  in  Italy,  will 
furnish  a  new  study  for  the  military  scholar  for  a  century 
to  come.  Sherman  also  handles  a  great  army  with  won- 
derful facility.  Still,  like  Grant,  he  has  grown  to  his 
present  stature.  Both  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  were  very 
different  men  from  what  they  are  now.  Sherman,  how- 
ever, has  true  genius,  though  not  of  that  peculiar 
kind  which  enables  a  man  to  mount  with  a  single  stride 
to  the  highest  position,  and  fill  it.  The  world  furnishes 
but  few  such.  The  only  difference  between  common  and 
great  men,  is,  that  the  latter  can  grow  to  any  responsi- 
bility or  requirement  of  life,  and  the  former  cannot.  One 
rises  with  events,  the  other  sinks  under  them;  one  con- 
trols them,  the  other  is  mastered  by  them. 

Some  call  him  ambitious,  such  natures  always  are ; 
but  Sherman's  ambition  can  never  override  his  patriotism 
or  love  of  right  and  truth.  His  love  of  country  is  intense, 
while  many  of  his  letters  and  expressed  views  show  that 
he  could  serve  it  just  as  ably  in  a  civil  as  in  a  military 
capacity. 


CHAPTER  XL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JAMES  B.  McPHERSQN. 

HIS  WORTH  AT  FIBST  NOT  APPRECIATED — HIS  BIRTH — ENTERS  WEST  POINT — 
GRADUATES  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  HIS  CLASS  AND  APPOINTED  ASSISTANT  IN- 
STRUCTOR OF  PRACTICAL  ENGINEERING — TRANSFERRED  TO  NEW  YORK 
HARBOR — CHARGED  WITH  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  FORT  DEL  AWARE —SENT 
TO  SUPERINTEND  THE  FORTIFICATIONS  BEING  ERECTED  IN  THE  BAY  OF 
SAN  FRANCISCO — ORDERED  HOME  AND  SENT  TO  BOSTON  HARBOR — ERRONE- 
OUS VIEWS — PLACED  ON  THE  STAFF  OF  HALLECK — HIS  PROMOTION — 
BENT  TO  AID  ROSECRANS — A  SUCCESSFUL  EXPEDITION  FROM  LA  GRANGE — 
UNDER  GRANT  IN  NORTHERN  MISSISSIPPI — COMMANDS  THE  SEVENTEENTH 
CORPS  IN  THE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG — HIS  GALLANT  CONDUCT — 
CAPTURE  OF  JACKSON — CHAMPION  HILLS— ASSAULT  OF  VICKSBURG — THE 
SURRENDER — PLACED  OVER  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE — DEFERS  HIS 
MARRIAGE — HIS  SERVICES  IN  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN — TERRIBLE  FIGHT 
BEFORE  ATLANTA — HIS  DEATH —GRANT'S  LETTER  TO  HIS  GRAND- 
MOTHER— HIS  CHARACTER. 

THERE  is  no  officer  in  this  war  who  has  risen  to  the 
first  rank  of  generals  so  quietly  and  unostentatiously  as 
McPherson.  The  country  hardly  knew  of  him  until  it 
discovered  that  he  stood  next  to  the  hearts  of  both  Grant 
and  Sherman.  And  what  is  more  singular,  the  South 
knew  of  his  military  worth  before  the  North.  He  had 
hardly  been  heard  of  when  the  Southern  papers  attributed 
Grant's  wonderful  campaign  against  Vicksburg  to  his 
genius  alone.  With  no  correspondents  to  write  up  his 
deeds,  he  rose  to  renown  in  the  army  before  he  had  any 
reputation  among  the  people ;  great  there  before  the  out 


238  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.  McPHERSON. 

side  world  knew  of  him.  No  politician  pushed  his  claims 
to  preferment — no  powerful  friends  at  court  paraded  his 
great  qualities,  in  order  to  obtain  for  him  an  important 
command,  and  no  sudden  brilliant  success  lifted  him  into 
governmental  favor.  By  silent  merit  alone  he  steadily, 
unobtrusively  climbed  the  ladder  of  fame,  till  a  major- 
general's  stars  graced  his  shoulders.  Over  six  feet  high, 
erect  and  noble,  he  Tras  every  inch  a  soldier,  and  each 
step  in  his  upward  career  was  planted  on  solid  worth, 
which  was  not  fully  appreciated  until  he  had  passed  away 
forever. 

Of  Scotch  descent,  James  Birdseye  McPherson  was 
born  in  Sandusky  Co.,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  November, 
1828.  But  little  is  known  of  his  childhood,  which  seem- 
ed to  give  no  striking  indications  of  his  after  greatness. 
Of  a  military  turn  of  mind,  he  yet  did  not  succeed  in 
getting  into  West  Point  until  he  reached  the  last  year  of 
age,  that  they  are  permitted  to  enter,  viz.,  twenty-one, 
In  the  Military  Academy,  however,  his  great  qualities 
at  once  became  apparent.  In  the  fourth  class  of  1850 
he  stood  second,  and  in  the  second  class  of  1852,  first, 
and  the  next  year  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class. 
This  was  a  high  honor,  showing  a  scholarship  that  the 
authorities  could  not  well  overlook,  and  McPherson  was 
breveted  second  lieutenant  of  Engineers,  and  at  once 
appointed  Assistant  Instructor  of  Practical  Engineering, 
at  the  Academy,  "  a  compliment  never  before,  nor  since, 
awarded  to  so  young  an  officer."  He  remained  in  this 
position  for  one  year,  and  then  was  made  Assistant  En 
gineer  on  the  defences  of  New  York  harbor,  and  in  the 
improvements  of  the  Hudson  river,  below  Albany.  He 
continued  to  be  engaged  in  this  work  until  the  winter  of 
1857,  and  is  still  remembered  by  many  of  the  citizens  in 


SERVES    IN   CALIFORNIA.  239 

and  near  Albany  for  his  unostentatious  bearing  and  kind- 
ness of  heart.  In  1855  he  was  made  full  second  lieu- 
tenant. 

From  the  Hudson  he  was  transferred  to  the  Delaware 
river,  charged  with  the  construction  of  Fort  Delaware, 
where  he  remained  till  July  of  that  year.  He  was  then 
despatched  to  California  to  superintend  the  erection  of 
the  fortifications  on  Alcatras  Island,  in  San  Francisco 
bay,  and  was  also  connected  with  the  survey  of  the  Pa- 
cific coast.  The  next  winter,  in  December,  1858,  he  was 
made  first  lieutenant. 

He  remained  in  California  several  years,  and  was  still 
on  duty  there  when  the  war  broke  out.  His  great  ability 
as  an  engineer  seemed  to  obscure  his  other  military  quali- 
ties, or  rather  it  might  be  said  that  at  the  outset  of  the 
war  the  Government  seemed  to  think  we  should  not  need 
engineers.  The  country  thought  so  too,  and  General 
Scott  was  ridiculed  for  throwing  up  such  elaborate  de- 
fences in  front  of  Washington.  Mathematical  science 
was  certainly  at  a  great  discount,  and  the  spade  voted  by 
common  consent  an  instrument  fit  only  for  less  enlight- 
ened times.  West  Point  education  was  considered  any- 
thing but  a  recommendation,  and  the  war  was  going  to 
demonstrate  it  to  be  an  institution  of  the  past — a  sort  of 
red  tape  affair  that  would  be  effectually  exploded. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  in  such  a  state  of 
public  feeling,  a  man  like  McPherson  should  be  over- 
looked, while  many  a  lawyer,  and  merchant,  and  school- 
master, were  honored  with  shoulder  straps. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  being  ordered  home  to  assume  ' 
a  high  position  in  the  army  assembling  at  Washington, 
he  was  sent  to  Boston  harbor  to  take  charge  of  its  forti- 
fications.    He  indeed  received  a  slight  promotion,  being 


240  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

made  this  month  junior  captain  of  his  company.  But 
when  Halleck  took  charge  of  the  Western  Department, 
McPherson  was  chosen  his  aid-de-camp,  and  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  By  what  lucky  cir- 
cumstance this  was  brought  about,  we  are  not  informed, 
but  certain  it  is,  General  Halleck,  unknown  to  himself. 
had  on  his  staff  one  greater  than  himself.  McPherson, 
however,  saw  but  little  field  service,  being  chiefly  engaged 
on  engineer  duty  in  Missouri,  till  the  beginning  of  1862. 
But  when  Grant  began  his  movements  on  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson,  he  was  made  chief  engineer.  For  his 
services  in  these  expeditions,  he  was  nominated  brevet- 
major  of  engineers,  remaining  with  Grant  till  after  the 
battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing.  In  this  action  he  was  on 
the  staff,  and  for  the  services  he  rendered  received  honor- 
able mention,  and  was  nominated  for  brevet  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  engineers.  Thus  it  is  seen  his  promotion  was 
very  slow,  and  won  by  hard  work.  The  next  May  he 
was  elevated  to  the  grade  of  colonel  on  the  staff. 

While  Halleck  was  making  his  slow  methodical  ap- 
proaches against  Corinth,  McPherson  superintended  the 
engineering  department.  Though  in  carrying  out  the 
plans  of  his  commander  he  exhibited  great  skill,  and 
made  every  step  the  former  took  safe  and  firm,  had  he 
been  in  chief  command,  he  would  have  done  less  engineer- 
ing and  more  fighting.  He  was  now  made  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers.  Once  fairly  in  the  field,  his  great 
qualities  became  so  apparent  to  his  immediate  command- 
ers, that  the  higher  he  rose  in  rank,  the  more  useful  he 
was  to  them ;  and  hence  they  urged  his  promotion,  Avhich 
now  went  on  rapidly.  On  Halleck's  call  to  the  chief  com- 
mand of  all  our  armies,  Grant  took  his  place  in  the  West, 
and  made  McPherson  superintendent  of  all  the  United 


SENT    TO   AID   ROSECRANS.  241 

States  military  railroads  in  the  Department  of  West 
Tennessee.  When  the  former  moved  on  luka  in  con- 
junction with  Rosecrans,  the  latter  served  on  his  staff. 
Shortly  after,  Price,  Van  Dorn,  and  Lovell,  suddenly 
concentrated  their  forces  against  Corinth,  designing  to 
cut  off  the  army  from  its  supplies  by  railroad.  Rose- 
crans  commanded  here,  and  was  greatly  outnumbered  by 
the  enemy.  Grant,  alarmed  for  his  safety,  ordered  Mc- 
Pherson  to  take  a  division  and  hasten  to  his  relief.  The 
former  moved  rapidly  forward  in  a  forced  march,  and  as 
he  approached  the  place,  the  heavy  thunder  of  artillery, 
breaking  over  the  woods,  announcing  the  danger  of  the 
garrison,  quickened  his  steps,  and  "forward,  forward," 
rang  along  his  swiftly  marching  columns.  Before  he 
reached  Corinth,  however,  the  fleeing  fugitives  told  him 
that  Rosecrans  had  repulsed  the  enemy ;  and  forcing  his 
way  through  the  disordered  lines,  he  marched  with  one 
brigade  into  the  place.  Rosecrans,  who  had  ridden  all 
along  his  victorious  lines  in  the  flush  of  victory,  found 
him,  as  he  wheeled  back  into  Corinth,  with  his  brigade 
drawn  up  in  the  public  square.  He  immediately  ordered 
him  to  take  the  advance,  and  follow  up  the  retreating  en- 
emy. He  did  so,  and  pushing  over  the  broken  country, 
day  after  day  hung  like  an  avenging  angel  on  the  rear  of 
the  rebel  army,  till  shattered  and  broken,  it  fled  in  dis- 
jointed fragments  in  every  direction. 

He  was  now  made  major-general  of  volunteers,  to  date 
from  October  8th.  Though  young,  being  but  thirty-three 
years  of  age,  he  had  shown  a  discretion  and  skill  that 
marked  him  for  high  command,  and  from  this  time  his 

O  ' 

movements  began  to  arrest  the   public  eye.     With  his 
headquarters  at  Bolivar,  he  at  once  commenced  to  reorgan- 
ize his  command,  and  place  it  in  advantageous  positions- 
16 


242  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

about  the  place.  Price,  recovering  from  his  terrible  pun- 
ishment at  Corinth,  began  now  to  reassemble  his  forces 
at  different  points,  and  Grant,  informed  of  it,  directed 
McPherson  to  occupy  Lagrange.  This  was  in  Novem- 
ber, and  he  moved  on  the  place  so  secretly,  and  rapidly, 
that  the  heads  of  his  columns  as  they  entered  it  saw  the 
rebel  cavalry  which  had  been  occupying  it  dashing  pell- 
mell  over  the  fields  and  along  the  roads,  in  the  wildest  dis- 
may. He  established  his  headquarters  here,  and  the 
same  day  Grant  arrived. 

On  the  llth,  the  latter  ordered  him  to  get  in  readiness 
a  division  of  infantry,  and  a  respectable  cavalry  force,  as 
he  wanted  him  to  go  on  a  reconnoissance  of  great  import- 
ance and  peculiar  danger.  McPherson  was  ready  next 
morning,  and  moving  off  to  the  southward,  by  noon  had 
marched  eight  miles,  reaching  the  vicinity  of  Lamar,  a 
small  village,  within  a  mile  of  which  the  cavalry  engaged 
the  enemy.  Hearing  the  firing  he  spurred  to  the  front, 
and  rapidly  surveying  the  field,  deployed  his  column,  and 
soon  began  to  press  the  main  line  of  the  rebel  army. 
Though  greatly  outnumbered,  he,  by  the  position  he  se- 
lected, held  the  enemy  at  bay,  while  he  sent  his  cavalry 
in  a  wide  detour  to  the  left,  with  directions  to  get  com- 
pletely in  the  rebel  rear  before  making  an  attack.  In  the 
meantime,  he  maintained  the  battle  in  front.  The  move- 
ment of  the  cavalry  was  successful,  and  soon  their  bugles 
rang  out  far  in  the  rear,  followed  by  the  shout  of  the 
charging  squadrons.  Alarmed  at  this  sudden  apparition 
in  their  rear,  the  enemy  rushed  forward  in  confusion  into 
a  cotton  field,  when  McPherson  fell  suddenly  on  their  flank, 
and  in  an  impetuous  charge,  crumbled  their  entire  line 
to  pieces.  The  dismayed  rebels  turned  and  fled  to  Holly 
Springs,  carrying  to  the  army  there  the  startling  report 


'A  SUCCESSFUL  ENTERPRISE.  243 

that  Grant's  whole  army  was  upon  them.  Directing  the 
infantry  to  advance  slowly  and  cautiously,  McPherson 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry,  and  pressed  for- 
ward after  the  broken  columns.  He  kept  on  till  he  came 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  rebel  camp,  when  he  drew  up 
on  an  eminence,  and  taking  out  his  field-glass,  leisurely 
surveyed  the  hostile  force,  now  forming  in  order  of  battle 
under  the  impression  that  Grant  with  his  whole  army 
was  advancing  to  the  attack.  After  having  ascertained 
all  that  he  was  sent  to  find  out,  he  quietly  countermarched, 
and  returned  to  Lagrange. 

In  this  important  enterprise  'he  had  been  left  to  his 
own  judgment  entirely,  as  to  the  best  mode  of  carrying 
out  the  object  sought  to  be  secured,  and  the  result  showed 
that  the  trust  was  well  reposed. 

This  was  his  first  battle,  in  which  he  had  chief  com- 
mand, and  the  skill  with  which  he  handled  his  troops,  and 
selected  his  positions  and  mode  of  attack,  and  the  vigor 
with  which  he  pressed  his  success,  stamped  him  at 
once  as  a  leader  of  uncommon  ability.  There  was  a  de- 
cision and  promptness  in  all  his  movements  that  showed 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  profession,  and  a  perfect 
comprehension  of  the  difficulties  and  capabilities  of  a  field 
of  action. 

In  the  combined  movement  of  Grant  and  Sherman 
against  Vicksburg  that  followed,  McPherson  held  an  im- 
portant command.  While  Sherman  moved  down  the 
Mississippi  from  Memphis,  Grant,  as  it  is  known,  struck 
inland  into  Northern  Mississippi,  designing  to  capture 
Jackson,  forty-five  miles  back  from  the  place,  and  thus 
keep  reinforcements  from  being  thrown  into  it,  to  repel 
Sherman's  attack.  McPherson  was  given  command  of 
the  right  wing,  which  had  the  advance  in  the  march. 


244  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

The  shameful  surrender  of  Holly  Springs  put  a  sudden 
stop  to  Grant's  movement,  and  he  wheeled  about  and  re- 
traced his  steps,  leaving  Sherman  to  dash  in  vain  against 
the  strong  works  of  Vicksburg. 

This  countermarch  took  place  in  December,  amid  tor- 
rents of  rain,  which  made  the  fields  and  roads  quagmires, 
while  the  enemy  continually  harassed  the  rear,  and  hung 
threateningly  along  our  flanks.  As  McPherson  was  given 
the  post  of  danger  in  the  advance,  so  now  it  was  assigned 
him  in  the  retreat — he  being  made  commander  of  the 
rear  guard.  Over  the  soft  and  flooded  fields,  and  along 
the  almost  bottomless  roads,  the  army  slowly  moved,  the 
soldiers,  angry  and  muttering  at  the  cowardice  of  the 
commander  of  Holly  Springs,  which  caused  this  long  and 
useless  march  in  midwinter,  on  half  rations,  and  by  many 
of  them  without  shoes.  McPherson,  however,  kept  up  a 
cheerful  countenance,  hardly  leaving  the  saddle  night  or 
day,  and  by  his  example  of  patient  endurance,  allayed 
the  ferment  of  the  men,  and  quieted  their  murmurs. 
While  cursing  others,  the  soldiers  lavished  unbounded 
praise  on  their  brave  young  commander,  and  soon  learned 
to  love  him  with  supreme  devotion. 

Grant  now  commenced  that  series  of  movements 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Yicksburg.  In 
the  outset,  he  divided  his  army  into  four  corps,  one  of 
which,  the  Seventeenth,  was  given  to  McPherson,  and 
under  him  acquired  a  renown  that  will  live  for  ever  in 
history. 

When  he  finally  crossed  the  Mississippi  below  Grand 
Gulf,  and  began  his  march  inland,  McPherson  was  his 
right-hand  man.  He  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Port 
Gibson,  and  bridging  Bayou  Pierre,  pressed  rapidly  after 
the  retreating  enemy,  whom  he  overtook  at  Raymond, 


A   BRILLIANT    CHARGE.  245 

posted  in  a  strong  position.  Knowing,  as  well  as  his 
leader,  that  swift  victories  alone  could  save  the  army,  he 
did  not  wait  for  strategic  movements,  but  in  one  headlong 
charge  broke  the  rebel  line  into  fragments,  losing  over 
four  hundred  in  the  onset.  Gathering  up  his  dead  and 
wounded  he  kept  on  towards  Jackson,  marching  on  the 
14th  twelve  miles  through  a  blinding,  pitiless  storm. 
At  ten  o'clock  he  drew  up  his  drenched  army  before  the 
formidable  breastworks  of  the  enemy,  who  were  not  only 
strongly  protected,  but  also  out-numbered  him  heavily. 
The  storm  now  broke  and  the  spring  sun  shone  forth  in 
all  its  splendor,  making  the  rain  drops  on  the  trees  and 
meadows  shine  like  jewels.  Awakened  by  the  freshness 
and  beauty,  the  birds  came  out  and  filled  the  air  with 
their  gay  carols,  a  rainbow  spanned  the  heavens,  and  all 
combined  to  make  it  a  scene  of  transcendent  loveliness. 
Amid  this  peaceful  splendor,  McPherson  drew  up  his 
fifteen  thousand  bayonets,  and  riding  along  the  glittering 
line  on  his  splendid  black  charger,  aroused  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  men  by  a  stirring  appeal.  As  soon  as  the  artillery 
had  got  into  position  and  thoroughly  searched  the  hostile 
works,  Jie  ordered  a  charge.  At  first,  slowly  and  with 
measured  steps,  as  though  on  a  dress  parade,  the  column 
moved  over  the  field,  closing  up,  calmly,  the  ugly  rents 
made  by  the  rebel  artillery,  and  kept  sternly  on  without 
returning  a  shot  till  within  thirty  yards  of  the  works, 
when  a  sudden  flash  leaped  from  the  line,  followed  by  a 
cheer  that  shook  the  field,  and  then,  with  one  bound,  they 
scaled  the  ramparts  and  poured  like  a  resistless  flood 
through  the  hostile  camp,  scattering  eyery  thing  from 
their  path,  and  chasing  the  flying  foe  into  and  through 
Jackson  in  confusion. 

The  next  day  he  wheeled  about,  and  led  his  weary 


246  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

troops  back  towards  Vicksburg,  and  to  new  victory 
at  Champion  Hill.  His  losses  had  been  heavy,  and  the 
endurance  of  his  troops  tested  to  the  utmost ;  yet  nothing 
could  dampen  their  courage,  and  on  the  18th  he  planted 
his  flag  before  the  rebel  city.  He  joined  in  the  assaults 
of  the  19th  and  22d,  which  succeeded  only  in  proving  the 
impregnability  of  the  works.  In  the  long  siege  which  fol- 
lowed, his  corps  occupied  the  centre.  His  engineering 
skill  now  had  full  scope,  and  under  his  practised  eye,  the 
army  worked  its  slow,  sure  way  towards  the  city.  Great 
in  the  field,  he  was,  if  possible,  still  greater  in  the  trenches. 
In  less  than  two  weeks  his  batteries  and  sharp-shooters 
had  almost  silenced  the  guns  in  his  immediate  front.  On 
the  25th  of  June  he  sprung  a  mine  under  one  of  the  most 
important  forts  of  the  enemy,  and  got  partial  possession 
of  it.  It  was  plain  that  he  would  soon  dig  his  way  into 
the  stronghold. 

The  interview  between  Grant  and  Pemberton,  just 
previous  to  the  surrender,  took  place  in  front  of  his  lines, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  two  that  the  former  selected  to  be 
present  at  the  conference.  On  the  4th  of  July  he  led  his 
victorious  columns  into  the  conquered  city,  over  which  he 
was  placed  in  command. 

Grant  now  recommended  him  for  promotion  in  the 
regular  army,  in  the  following  strong  language  :  "  He  has 
been  with  me  in  every  battle  since  the  commencement  of 
the  rebellion,  except  Belmont.  At  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  Shiloh,  and  the  siege  of  Corinth,  as  a  staff 
officer  and  engineer,  his  services  were  conspicuous  and 
highly  meritorious.  At  the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  his 
skill  as  a  soldier  was  displayed  in  successfully  carrying 
reinforcements  to  the  besieged  garrison,  when  the  enemy 
was  between  him  and  the  point  to  be  reached.  In  the 


EULOGY   OF   GRANT.  247 

advance  through  Central  Mississippi,  General  McPherson 
commanded  one  wing  of  the  army  with  all  the  ability 
possible  to  show,  he  having  the  lead  in  the  advance  and 
the  rear  in  retiring. 

"  In  the  campaign  and  siege  terminating  with  the  fall 
of  Yicksburg,  General  McPherson  has  filled  a  conspicu- 
ous part.  At  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson  it  was  under  his 
direction  that  the  enemy  was  driven  late  in  the  afternoon 
from  a  position  that  they  had  succeeded  in  holding  all 
day  against  an  obstinate  attack.  His  corps,  the  advance 
always  under  his  immediate  eye,  were  the  pioneers  in  the 
movements  from  Port  Gibson  to  Hankinson's  Ferry. 
From  the  north  fork  of  the  Bayou  Pierre  to  Black  river 
it  was  a  constant  skirmish,  the  whole  skilfully  managed. 
The  enemy  was  so  closely  pursued  as  to  be  unable  to  de- 
stroy their  bridge  of  boats  after  them.  From  Hankin- 
son's  Ferry  to  Jackson,  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps 
marched  roads  not  travelled  by  other  troops,  fighting  the 
entire  battle  of  Raymond  alone,  and  the  bulk  of  John- 
ston's army  was  fought  by  this  corps,  entirely  under  the 
management  of  General  McPherson.  At  Champion's 
Hill  the  Seventeenth  Corps  and  General  McPherson  were 
conspicuous.  All  that  could  be  termed  a  battle  there 
was  fought  by  the  divisions  of  General  McPherson's  Corps 
and  General  Hovey's  division  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps. 
In  the  assault  of  the  22d  of  May,  on  the  fortifications  of 
Vicksburg,  and  during  the  entire  siege,  General  Mc- 
Pherson and  his  command  took  unfading  laurels.  He  is 
one  of  the  ablest  engineers  and  most  skilful  generals.  I 
would  respectfully  but  urgently  recommend  his  promo- 
tion to  the  position  of  brigadier-general  in  the  regular 
army."  "We  venture  to  say  a  warmer  endorsement  of  a 
subordinate  by  a  superior  was  never  made  than  this.  It 


248  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

shows  conclusively,  that  what  of  McPherson1  s  services 
reached  the  public  ear,  was  but  the  smallest  fraction  of 
that  which  he  performed.  It  certainly  would  have  been 
strange,  if  after  such  an  unqualified  eulogium  and  urgent 
recommendation  of  the  victor  of  Vicksburg,  Congress 
had  refused  to  confirm  the  nomination  cheerfully  made 
by  the  President.  It  did  not,  and  in  December  he  was 
made  brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army,  his  commis- 
sion to  date  back  to  the  first  of  August.  His  gallant 
corps  also  voted  him  a  medal  of  honor. 

After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  and  while  in  com- 
mand of  the  place,  McPherson  made  a  dash,  in  person, 
on  the  guerillas  that  were  infesting  the  neighborhood, 
scattering  them  in  every  direction. 

The  limits  of  his  military  jurisdiction  were  now  en- 
larged, reaching  from  Helena,  Arkansas,  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  Hiver.  He  remained  with  his  headquarters  at 
Vicksburg  till  February,  1864,  when  he  took  the  field, 
and  bore  the  brunt  of  Sherman's  great  raid  to  Meridian, 

When  Grant  was  made  General-in-Chief,  and  Sherman 
took  his  place  as  commander  of  the  department  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  army  of  the  Tennessee  was  left  without  a 
head,  and  McPherson  was  at  once  placed  over  it.  He 
now  had  the  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  added  to 
his  noble  Seventeenth. 

Being  engaged  to  be  married  to  a  young  lady  in  Bal- 
timore, he  was  about  taking  leave  of  absence  to  consummate 
the  union,  when  he  received  this  appointment.  At  the 
same  time,  the  great  Atlanta  campaign  was  being  organ- 
ized, in  which  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  expected 
to  bear  a  conspicuous  part.  With  that  self-sacrifice  which 
so  distinguished  him,  he  postponed  the  marriage  till  it 
was  completed.  Alas,  he  was  destined  never  again  to  see 


FLANKS   D ALTON.  249 

the  idol  of  his  heart !  Like  the  mother  of  Sisera,  she 
would  exclaim,  "Why  stays  his  chariot,  why  are  his 
chariot  wheels  so  long  in  coming?" 

McPherson  at  once  began  to  put.his  army  in  condition 
for  the  perilous  campaign  before  it.  His  scattered  forces 
were  called  in  and  organized  at  Huntsville,  Alabama,  and 
by  the  1st  of  May  he  was  ready  to  march. 

When  Sherman  finally  confronted  Johnston  in  his 
impregnable  position  in  the  Chattanooga  mountains,  and 
saw  that  he  must  turn  it,  McPherson  was  chosen  to  carry 
out  his  plan.  Throwing  his  army  beyond  the  mountains 
by  Snake  Creek  Gap,  the  latter  suddenly  appeared  near 
the  railroad  at  Resaca,  in  the  rebel  rear.  Had  that  army 
been  a  little  stronger  in  numbers,  he  could  have  at  once 
severed  the  enemy's  communications,  and  forced  Johnston 
here  at  the  outset  into  an  open,  decisive  battle,  which 
would  have  virtually  ended  the  campaign.  Some  blamed 
him  for  too  much  caution,  asserting  that  a  bold  and  sud- 
den stroke  would  have  secured  the  road,  and  cut  off 
the  rebel  retreat.  But  want  of  promptness  and  daring 
was  not  one  of  McPherson's  faults.  Whatever  hesitancy 
he  showed,  one  may  be  assured  was  not  only  proper,  but 
that  an  opposite  course  would  have  been  criminal.  He  had 
made  a  difficult,  circuitous  march  of  thirty  or  forty  miles, 
hoping  to  carry  Resaca  by  surprise,  as  Sherman  trusted 
he  would;  and  then,  if  heavily  pressed,  fall  back  to  a 
strong,  defensive  point,  ready  to  dash  on  the  enemy's 
flank  the  moment  he  attempted  to  retreat.  But  the  crafty 
Johnston  had  guarded  against  this  disaster,  and  McPher- 
son, when  he  arrived  near  the  place  saw  that  it  was  too 
strong  to  be  carried  by  assault,  and  that  the  rapid  con- 
centration of  troops  there  would  certainly  overwhelm 
him,  and  he  fell  back  to  Snake  Creek  Gap,  and  reported 


250  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

to  Sherman  the  condition  of  things,  who  immediately 
sent  Hooker's  corps  to  his  support. 

McPherson  now  feeling  that  he  had  sufficient  force  to 
assume  the  offensive,  stormed  and  carried  the  enemy's 
works.  Stung  by  this  defeat,  Johnston  threw  himself 
with  desperate  fury  upon  him,  determined  to  regain  the 
lost  position.  But  his  efforts  were  in  vain,  and  he  finally 
fell  back,  leaving  the  ground  in  front  of  McPherson  dark 
with  the  slain. 

The  army  now  moved  on,  McPherson  holding  the 
right,  and  occupied  Kinston  May  18th;  and  still  push- 
ing forward,  at  length  came  upon  the  enemy  turned  at 
bay  in  the  Kenesaw  Mountains.  Here  Johnston  attacked 
him  with  a  heavy  force,  but  after  a  most  sanguinary 
struggle,  was  repulsed  at  all  points,  with  a  loss  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  men. 

When  Sherman,  finding  that  he  could  not  force  the 
strong  position  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  resorted  to  his  old 
flanking  process,  he  sent  McPherson  around  to  the  right, 
to  the  Chattahoochee  River.  Johnston  at  once  aban- 
doned his  impregnable  position,  and  fell  back  to  Atlanta. 
McPherson  was  now  transferred  from  the  right  to  the 
left,  with  directions  to  seize  and  break  up  the  railroad 
near  Decatur,  that  lay  several  miles  east  of  Atlanta,  and 
thus  cut  off  the  direct  communication  between  Lee's 
army  at  Richmond,  and  Johnston's,  now  commanded  by 
Hood. 


M  PHERSON'S  DEATH. 


While  Thomas,  on  the  20th,  near  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
directly  in  front  of  the  enemy's  works,  was  assaulted 
with  desperate  fury  by  Hood,  and  narrowly  escaped 


HIS   DEATH.  251 

serious  disaster,  McPherson  was  moving  down  from  De- 
catur  eastward,  to  close  around  the  doomed  city  from  that 
quarter.  Hood,  having  failed  to  break  through  Thomas's 
lines,  now  determined  to  repeat  the  experiment  on  Mc- 
Pherson, and  so  the  next  day  but  one,  gathered  up  his 
shattered  battalions  to  attack  him.  Leaving  only  suffi- 
cient force  in  the  intrenchments  to  man  them,  he  massed 
his  entire  army  on  our  left,  resolved  by  mere  weight  and 
suddenness  of  onset  to  break  through  our  lines,  which 
were  at  this  terrible  juncture  in  the  process  of  formation. 
The  assault  was  made  with  their  accustomed  desperation, 
and  at  first  a  part  of  the  army  gave  way,  and  for  a  time 
it  seemed  as  if  the  enemy  would  get  in  McPherson's  rear 
and  finish  the  battle  with  a  blow.  The  onset  was  one  of 
the  most  determined  that  had  been  made  during  the  war, 
and  it  was  evident  that  Hood  was  making  a  last  great 
effort  to  burst  the  coils  that  were  slowly  tightening  around 
him.  The  crowding  battalions  swept  up  to  the  very  muz- 
zles of  the  guns,  and  at  times  the  standards  of  the  con- 
tending hosts  seemed  commingled,  so  close  and  deadly 
was  the  embrace.  The  crash  of  cannon  and  roar  of  mus- 
ketry were  incessant  and  deafening,  and  the  slaughter  of 
the  enemy  frightful.  Bent  on  success,  the  rebels,  reckless 
of  life,  were  hurled  back  but  to  return  with  greater  fury 
to  the  attack.  Their  lines  seemed  made  of  steel,  and  bent 
backward  only  to  spring  with  greater  force  to  their  place. 
McPherson's  black  steed  flitted  like  a  phantom  through 
the  smoke  of  the  batteries,  the  tall  form  that  bestrode  it 
towering  unhurt  amid  the  devouring  fire  that  steadily 
engulfed  the  devoted  ranks.  With  the  chivalric  feeling 
of  a  knight  of  old,  he  was  always  to  be  found  at  the 
point  of  greatest  danger,  steadying  the  wavering,  and  fill- 
ing all  with  his  own  high,  enthusiastic  spirit.  Eloquent 


252  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

only  on  the  battle-field,  and  always  so  there,  his  words 
rang  like  a  bugle-blast,  and  his  brave  battalions  closed 
round  him  in  a  wall  of  iron.  Thus  the  battle  raged  till 
noon,  when  there  came  a  lull  in  the  contest,  and  the  en- 
emy fell  back  to  gather  for  a  new  and  more  determined 
attack  on  some  other  point.  At  this  time  the  Sixteenth 
Corps  stood  perpendicular  to  the  main  line  of  battle,  and 
facing  to  the  left,  so  as  to  cover  the  trains  which  the  en- 
emy, by  swinging  round  the  extremity  of  the  line,  might 
reach.  Between  it  and  the  Seventeenth  Corps  there  was 
a  slight  gap  which  had  existed  during  the  whole  of  the 
fight.  This  had  caused  McPherson  considerable  uneasi- 
ness ;  but  under  the  fierce  onsets  of  the  enemy  he  could 
do  nothing  more  than  hold  his  own.  But  now  he  deter- 
mined to  close  this,  for  he  knew  the  enemy's  next  attack 
would  be  at  that  vulnerable  point;  and  should  he  break 
through,  nothing  could  save  him  from  defeat.  This  gap 
consisted  of  a  piece  of  wood,  through  which  there  ran 
but  a  single  country  road;  the  only  direct  way  by  which 
he  could  reach  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  and 
give  the  necessary  directions  to  meet  the  approaching  at- 
tack. He  could  have  got  to  the  desired  spot  by  going  to 
the  rear  and  making  a  wide  circuit,  but  this  would  have 
taken  him  over  a  broken  country,  and  across  ravines  and 
streams,  and  impeded  and  delayed  his  movements.  Time 
was  precious,  for  he  did  not  know  how  soon  the  attack 
would  be  made.  He  had  ridden  over  this  road  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  soldiers  had  passed  and  repassed  along  it  all 
the  forenoon.  Hence  it  was  not  supposed  that  the  en- 
emy had  as  yet  tried  to  occupy  it,  and  McPherson  took 
it  without  hesitation. 

Before  he  entered  the  wood,  however,  he  stopped, 
and  looked  over  the  ground  carefully,  as  if  he  had  a  pre- 


HIS    DEATH.  253 

monition  that  danger  lurked  in  its  leafy  arcades.  But 
dismissing  his  apprehensions,  if  he  had  any,  he  sent  the 
only  officer  remaining  with  him  (all  the  rest  being  off 
with  despatches)  back  to  General  Logan,  with  orders  to 
send  a  brigade  and  close  up  the  gap  at  once,  and  hasten 
forward  to  join  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  wood  at 
Smith's  headquarters.  Then,  accompanied  by  only  one 
orderly,  he  dashed  the  spurs  into  his  black  steed,  which 
had  carried  him  safely  through  every  battle  since  Shiloh, 
and  which  seemed  like  his  master  to  love  "  the  confused 
noise  of  battle  and  the  shouting  of  the  captains,"  and  dis- 
appeared in  the  green  foliage  of  the  forest.  But  the 
rebels  had  already  advanced  their  skirmish  line  into  the 
woods,  and  now  held  a  part  of  the  road.  Suddenly  con- 
fronting him,  as  he  galloped  forward,  they  ordered  him 
to '  surrender.  He  had  not  discovered  them  till  that 
moment,  and  was  so  near  that  half  a  dozen  more  bounds 
of  his  horse  would  have  brought  him  into  their  very 
midst.  Startled  at  the  sudden  apparition,  he  threw  the 
animal  back  on  his  haunches  with  a  sudden  pull.  Then, 
suddenly  recollecting  himself,  he  gallantly  raised  his  cap, 
and  made  a  graceful  salutation.  At  the  same  moment 
he  reined  his  steed  quickly  to  the  right,  and  sending  the 
spurs  home,  with  a  bound  dashed  into  the  woods.  A 
volley  followed  him,  and,  pierced  by  several  balls,  he 
reeled  from  his  saddle  and  fell.  The  rebels  rushed  after, 
and  though  they  found  him  still  breathing,  rifled  his 
pockets,  taking  his  watch  and  private  papers,  and  also 
his  sword,  belt  and  field-glass.*  Then,  apparently  fear- 
ing an  attack,  they  retired.  Some  of  our  men,  socn  after, 
passing  down  the  road,  saw  the  black  steed,  as  well 

*  These,  all  but  the  watch,  were  recovered  from  prisoners. 


254  MAJOR-GENERAL  JAMES   B.    MoPHERSON. 

known  by  the  troops  as  his  master,  come  limping  out  of 
the  wood,  riderless  and  wounded  in  two  places — one  bul- 
let hole  through  the  saddle-cloth.  The  sight  of  the  mute 
beast  told  better  than  words,  the  fate  of  his  brave  master. 
His  body  was  immediately  searched  for,  and  among 
others,  by  a  wounded  private  named  George  Reynolds, 
who,  forgetful  of  his  own  suffering,  thought  only  of  his 
beloved  commander.  He  found  him  not  fifty  yards  from 
the  road,  showing  that  the  horse  had  made  but  a  few 
leaps  before  McPherson  fell.  The  noble  form  lay  stretch- 
ed under  the  green  leaves,  still  breathing.  George,  with 
his  heart  bursting  with  grief,  bent  over  him,  and  asked 
him  if  he  would  have  a  drink  of  water.  Receiving  no 
answer,  he  again  enquired  if  anything  could  be  done  for 
him.  Whether  his  spirit  was  so  far  gone  toward  that 
land  where  the  tread  of  armies  is  never  heard,  and  the 
sound  of  battle  never  comes,  that  he  could  not  hear  the 
last  words  addressed  to  him  on  earth,  or  hearing,  could 
not  answer,  will  never  be  known.  His  feet  had  already 
entered  the  waters  of  "that  dark  ocean  on  which  we  are 
all  to  embark  so  soon,"  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  ceased 
to  breathe.  George,  with  another  private,  then  came 
down  the  road,  and  meeting  some  officers,  told  them  they 
had  just  left  the  body  of  McPherson.  An  ambulance 
was  at  once  secured,  and  the  body  brought  away.  "No- 
ble George  Reynolds,"  states  an  officer,  "  not  enough  can 
be  sa*id  in  praise  of  young  Reynolds.  He  was  severely 
wounded  through  the  left  arm ;  and  although  weak  and 
faint  from  loss  of  blood,  remained  with  the  general  till  he 
died,  and  did  everything  in  his  power  to  comfort  him, 
and  refused  to  have  his  wounds  dressed  until  his  remains 
had  been  secured  and  carried  to  Sherman's  headquarters." 
When  the  latter  beheld  the  noble  form  he  loved  so  well 


MCPHERSON'S  REVENUE.  255 

stretched  stiff  in  death  before  him,  even  his  stern  heart 
gave  way,  and  the  eye  that  had  gazed  so  often  unmoved 
on  scenes  of  carnage  and  blood,  overflowed  in  tears,  and 
like  Napoleon  over  the  dying  Lannes  and  the  dead 
Duroc,  he  gave  way  to  the  deepest  sorrow.  When  the 
news  reached  Grant,  he  exclaimed:  "  The  country  has 
lost  one  of  its  best  soldiers,  and  I  have  lost  my  best  friend" 
and  burst  into  tears.  What  a  touching  tribute  to  the 
unconscious  hero  was  the  grief  of  these  two  great  chief- 
tains. 

"  How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest, 
By  all  their,  country's  wishes  blest." 

His  death  carried  grief  to  thousands  of  hearts ;  but  in 
one  it  crushed  out  the  very  life — the  lady,  in  Baltimore, 
whom  he  was  about  to  claim  as  a  bride,  at  the  time  he 
received  the  news  of  his  appointment  to  the  command  of 
Sherman's  former  army,  but  postponed  it  to  prepare  for 
the  great  campaign  at  the  close  of  which  he  fell. 

McPherson's  death  was  soon  known  throughout  his 
army,  awakening,  first,  bitter  grief,  and  then  the  keenest 
thirst  for  vengeance.  And  when  the  enemy  came  on 
again  that  afternoon,  "  McPherson  and  revenge,1'  resound- 
ing from  right  to  left  of  the  eager  line,  was  the  fearful 
slogan  with  which  they  charged  on  the  foe.  Thousands 
went  down  before  it,  and  at  night-fall  the  dripping  ensan- 
guined earth  bore  mute  testimony  to  the  terrible  ven-' 
geance  his  devoted  followers  had  taken  on  his  slayers. 

The  grandmother  of  McPherson,  aged  eighty-seven, 
hearing  that  Grant  retired  to  his  tent  and  wept,  when 
he  received  the  tidings  of  McPherson's  death,  wrote  him 
an  interesting  letter,  and,  among  other  things,  said,  "I 
wish  to  inform  you  that  his  remains  were  conducted  by  a 


256  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

kind  guard  to  the  very  parlor  where  he  spent  a  cheerful 
evening,  in  1861,  with  his  widowed  mother,  two  brothers, 
and  an  only  sister,  and  his  aged  grandmother,  who  is 
now  trying  to  write.  His  funeral  services  were  attended 
in  his  mother's  orchard,  where  his  youthful  feet  had  often 
pressed  the  soil  to  gather  the  falling  fruit,  and  his  re- 
mains are  resting  in  the  silent  grave,  scarce  half  a  mile 
from  the  place  of  his  birth."  She  closes  by  saying,  "  I 
pray  that  the  God  of  battles  may  be  with  you,  and  go 
forth  with  your  arms,  till  rebellion  shall  cease,  the  Union 
be  restored,  and  the  old  flag  wave  over  our  entire  land. 
"With  much  respect,  I  remain  your  friend, 

"LYDIA  SLOCUM, 

"Aged  87  years  and  4  months." 
To  this  Grant  sent  the  following  reply,  exhibiting  not 
only  a  beautiful  phase  of  his  own  character,  but  showing 
his  high  appreciation  of  that  of  McPherson : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  TL  S.,  ) 
CITT  POINT,  VA.,  Aug.  10,  1864.       f 

Mrs.  Lydia,  Slocum: 

MY  DEAK  MADAM  :  Your  very  welcome  letter  of  tlie  3d  instant  has 
reached  me.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  relatives  of  the  lamented  Major- 
General  McPherson  are  aware  of  the  more  than  friendship  existing  between 
him  and  myself.  A  nation  grieves  at  the  loss  of  one  so  dear  to  our  nation's 
cause.  It  is  a  selfish  grief,  because  the  nation  had  more  to  expect  from  him 
than  from  almost  any  one  living.  I  join  in  this  selfish  grief,  and  add  the 
grief  of  personal  love  for  the  departed.  He  formed,  for  some  time,  one  of 
my  military  family.  I  knew  him  well ;  to  know  him  was  to  love.  It  may 
be  some  consolation  to  you,  his  aged  grandmother,  to  know  that  every 
officer  and  every  soldier  who  served  under  your  grandson  felt  the  highest 
reverence  for  his  patriotism,  his  zeal,  his  great,  almost  unequalled  ability, 
his  amiability,  and  all  the  manly  virtues  that  can  adorn  a  commander. 
Your  bereavement  is  great,  but  cannot  exceed  mine. 

Yours  truly,  TJ.  S.  GRANT. 

In  personal  appearance  McPherson  was  very  com- 
manding.    Over  six  feet  high,  with  a  noble  forehead,  and 


HIS    CHARACTER.  257 

an  eye  clear  and  open  as  the  day,  lie  seemed  made  for 
a  knight  of  the  olden  time.  He  was  a  splendid  rider, 
and  amid  the  smoke  and  carnage  of  battle  both  he  and 
his  black  steed  seemed  to  be  inspired.  Wherever  regi- 
ments were  wavering,  the  presence  of  that  horse  and 
rider  arrested  at  once  the  disorder,  and  the  shaking  line 
became  compact  and  steady  as  granite.  He  never  lost  a 
battle.  A  braver  man  never  drew  sword,  if  bravery  can  be 
predicated  of  one,  who  by  nature  seemed  totally  uncon- 
scious of  fear.  If  he  had  any  fault,  it  was  the  too  reckless 
exposure  of  his  person.  His  life  was  too  valuable  to  be 
risked  as  it  was  often  done  by  him.  While  preparing  for 
a  great  battle,  which  would  in  all  likelihood  be  lost  if  he 
fell,  he  would  Sometimes  in  person  accompany  his  skir- 
mishers ;  and,  in  the  fight,  where  the  pressure  was  hea- 
viest on  his  lines,  there  he  was  always  sure  to  be  found. 
Conspicuous  by  his  commanding  height  and  his  black 
horse,  he  had  often  been  made  the  target  of  sharpshooters, 
hi  fact,  of  whole  battalions  and  batteries,  yet  never  re- 
ceived a  wound  till  the  last  fatal  one.  He  never  used 
profane  language,  even  in  the  heat  of  the  contest.  He 
needed  no  oaths  to  give  emphasis  to  his  harangues  and 
orders,  for  though  on  ordinary  occasions  he  was  a  poor 
speaker,  embarrassed,  and  common-place,  and  tiresome — 
in  the  heat  and  clangor  of  battle  his  words  rang  like  a 
bugle-call.  There,  he  was  in  his  true  element,  and  his 
form  dilated  and  his  clear  eye  blazed,  and  he  rode  at  the 
head  of  his  columns  the  model  of  a  hero.  Courteous 
and  affable,  his  headquarters  were  always  the  centre  of 
hospitality.  Admired  by  his  officers,  he  was  loved  by  alL 
With  a  mind  capable  of  great  combinations,  and  an  ex- 
tensive energy  to  match  it,  he  was  a  tower  of  strength  to 

the  general  under  whom  he  served.     Had  he  been  given 
17 


258  MAJOR-GENERAL   JAMES   B.    McPHERSON. 

a  wider  field,  he  would  have  ranked  second  to  none. 
Full  of  honor  and  noble  generosity,  he  finished  his  short, 
bright  career,  leaving  no  stain  on  his  blade.  Plunder  and 
lawless  violence  were  his  detestation,  and,  like  Thomas, 
he  had  no  enemies.  "  Noble  in  all  his  impulses,  pure  in 
all  his  relations,  true  to  the  integrity  of  his  country,  able 
in  council,  and  great  as  a  military  chieftain,  his  fall  was 
a  sad  calamity  to  our  cause  and  country."  War  brings 
to  the  surface  but  few  such  men,  and  the  casualties  of 
battle  seldom  remove  a  leader  of  so  much  worth  and 
promise. 

Peace  to  his  ashes,  and  a  grateful  monument  to  his 
memory ! 


MAJ.  G-E1I  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 


CHAPTER    Xll. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

HIS  RESEMBLANCE  TO  WASHINGTON — HIS  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  EDUCATION — 
HIS  STANDING  AT  WEST  POINT — ACCOUNT  OP  HIS  EARLY  MILITARY 
CAREER — WOUNDED  IN  A  FIGHT  WITH  THE  INDIANS  WHILE  ON  AN  EX- 
PLORING EXPEDITION — BREAKING  OUT  OP  THE  WAR — STANDS  BY  THB 
OLD  FLAG — COMMANDS  IN  PATTERSON'S  ARMY— IS  UNDER  BANKS— SENT 
TO  KENTUCKY  UNDER  GENERAL  ANDERSON — CAMP  DICK  ROBINSON — WILD- 
CAT CAMP — DEFEATS  ZOLLICOFFER — BATTLE  OP  MILL  SPRING — DEATH  OF 
ZOLLICOFFER — MADE  MAJOR-GENERAL  OP  VOLUNTEERS — MARCHES  TO 
PITTSBURG  LANDING — AFTER  OPERATIONS  UNDER  BUELL — ORDERED  TO 
SUPERSEDE  BUELL — DECLINES — SERVES  UNDER  ROSECRANS— CONFIDENCE 
IN  HIM — FEELING  OF  THE  ARMY — PET  NAMES — HIS  BRAVERY  AT  MUR- 
FREESBORO — HIS  BRILLIANT  HEROIC  CONDUCT  AT  CHICKAMAUGA — SUPER- 
SEDES ROSECRANS— COMMANDS.THE  CENTRE  UNDER  GRANT  IN  THE  BATTLE 
OF  MISSIONARY  RIDGE — SHERMAN'S  CHIEF  RELIANCE  IN  THE  ATLANTA  CAM- 
PAIGN— ASSAULTED  BY  HOOD — AT  JONESBORO — SENT  TO  NASHVILLE  TO 
RAISE  AN  ARMY — CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GRANT — BATTLE  OP  NASH- 
VILLE— HIS  CHARACTER.  ^ 

IT  is  very  rare  in  this  world  that  a  man  occupies  for 
years  a  position  of  great  responsibility  and  of  hazard, 
without  doing  or  saying  something  for  which  his  friends 
feel  the  necessity  of  apologizing.  This  is  especially  true 
when  the  elevation  to  such  a  position  is  sudden  and  rapid, 
and  when  he  is  surrounded  by  incapable  men  and  often 
compelled  to  act  under  those  who  have  neither  his  honor 
nor  ability.  Under  such  trying  circumstances  to  utter  no 
angry,  hasty  word,  and  do  no  imprudent  act,  is  evidence  of 
an  equipoise  of  character  seldom  found.  And  yet  this 
is  strictly  true  of  Thomas.  From  the  beginning  to  the 


262  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   H.    THOMAS. 

end  of  the  war,  not  a  breath  of  slander  has  tarnished  his 
fair  fame.  Handed  about  from  one  army  to  another, 
serving  under  some  commanders  who  were  removed  for 
incompetency,  and  with  others  who  have  been  disgraced, 
he  himself  has  never  been  asked  to  defend  his  con- 
duct, or  apologize  for  his  mistakes.  From  the  same 
state  as  Washington,  he  resembles  him  in  many  points. 
This,  Rosecrans,  for  a  time  his  commander,  remarked  of 
him,  saying  that  when  they  were  cadets  together  at  West 
Point,  he  had  noted1  this  resemblance  and  "  was  in  the 
habit  of  calling  him  General  Washington." 

He  was  born  in  Southampton  county,  Virginia,  on 
the  last  day  of  July,  1816.  His  mother  was  of  French 
origin,  being  descended  from  a  Huguenot  family.  Born 
to  affluence,  he  received  a  fair  education  and  began  the 
study  of  the  law.  But  having  a  strong  predilection  for 
the  military  profession,  he  sought  and  obtained,  through 
his  friends,  the  appointment  of  cadet  in  the  school  at 
West  Point.  Distinguished  there  for  his  probity,  honor, 
and  steadiness  of  character,  he  finished  his  course  with 
credit,  graduating  in  1840,  twelfth  in  a  class  of  forty-five, 
and  was  appointed  second  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery. 
The  country  then  being  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Indians 
of  Florida,  he  was  sent  thither,  and  the  next  fall  was  brevet- 
ted  first  lieutenant  for  gallant  conduct.  In  January,  1842, 
his  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  New  Orleans  barracks,  but 
in  June  was  transferred  to  Fort  Moultrie,  in  Charleston 
harbor.  The  next  December  he  was  sent  to  Fort  Mc- 
Henry,  Maryland,  where,  in  May,  he  was  promoted  to 
first  lieutenant  of  artillery.  The  next  spring  he  returned 
to  Fort  Moultrie,  where  he  remained  till  the  summer  of 
1845,  when,  war  being  imminent  with  Mexico,  he  was 
ordered,  with  his  company,  to  report  to  General  Taylor  in 


HIS  BRAVERY  AT  MONTEREY.  263 

Texas,  and  was  among  the  first  to  arrive  on  the  field 
The  army  lay  for  a  while  on  the  Rio  Grande,  opposite 
Matamoras,  and  when  Taylor,  with  his  main  force,  fell 
back  to  Point  Isabel  to  establish  a  depot  of  supplies, 
Thomas1  company  was  one  of  the  eight  left  to  garrison 
Fort  Brown.  He  helped  defend  the  beleaguered  place 
under  the  tremendous  bombardment  of  the  Mexicans, 
until  it  was  finally  relieved  by  the  victorious  return  of 
Taylor.  He  was  then  detached  from  his  company,  and, 
with  a  section  of  his  battery,  stationed  at  Reynosa  with 
the  advance  guard.  In  September  he  joined  the  main 
army  in  its  march  to  Monterey,  and  in  the  battle  at  that 
place,  did  such  good  service  that  he  was  brevetted  captain. 
In  December,  1846,  he  was  placed  in  the  advance  with  the 
brigade  of  Quitman,  who  entered  Victoria  early  hi  the 
winter. 

In  the  bloody  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  no  one  worked  his 
guns  with  more  steadiness,  skill  and  bravery  than  young 
Thomas,  and  for  his  gallant  conduct  he  was  brevetted 
Major.  He  remained  in  Mexico  till  August,  1848,  when 
he  was  ordered  back  to  Texas.  In  the  fall,  he  was  put 
in  charge  of  the  Commissary  Department  at  Brazos  San- 
tiago, where  he  remained  till  December.  From  thence 
he  was  sent  to  Fort  Adams,  Rhode  Island.  But  hostili- 
ties having  broke  out  again  in  Florida,  he  was  transferred, 
with  his  company,  to  that  State,  where  he  remained  on 
duty  till  December,  1850.  He  was  next  stationed  ki 
Boston  harbor,  (January,  1851,)  but  before  three  months 
had  expired,  was  relieved  from  his  command  and  as- 
signed to  duty  at  West  Point,  as  Instructor  of  Artillery 
and  Cavalry.  Here  he  remained  for  four  years,  until 
the  summer  of  1854.  During  this  period  he  married 
Miss  Frances  S.  Kellogg,  of  Troy. 


264  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

On  leaving  West  Point,  he  was  sent  with  a  battalion 
of  artillery  to  California,  and  being  assigned  to  Fort 
Yuma,  relieved  Major  Heintzelman,  who  commanded  the 
post.  He  now  got  transferred  to  the  cavalry,  in  which 
he  received  the  appointment  of  Junior  Major,  and  the 
next  year,  1855,  joined  his  regiment  at  Jefferson  barracks, 
Missouri.  Being  ordered  to  Texas,  he  remained  there 
with  his  regiment  over  four  years,  when  he  obtained  leave 
of  absence.  During  this  time  his  duties  were  often  very 
arduous.  He  was  sent  on  two  exploring  expeditions,  in 
one  of  which  he  had  a  fight  with  a  body  of  Indians,  and 
received  a  wound  in  the  face. 

When  the  rebellion  broke  out,  although  a  Virginian 
by  birth,  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  as  to  his  duty. 
Though  his  State  seceded,  and  his  old  acquaintances  there 
looked  to  see  him  come  over  from  the  Federal  army  and 
fight  in  her  defence,  he  stood  firmly  by  the  old  flag.  In 
the  summer  of  1861  he  was  ordered  to  Carlisle  Barracks, 
Pennsylvania,  to  re-mount  his  old  cavalry  regiment,  which 
he  had  left  in  Texas,  and  which  the  rebel  Twiggs  had  sent 
out  of  the  State  without  their  horses.  Equipping  and 
Sending  on  a  portion  of  the  regiment  to  Washington,  he 
reported  himself  at  Greencastle.  In  the  meantime  he 
was  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel,  and  in  May  to 
colonel.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  summer,  he  com- 
manded a  brigade  in  Patterson's  army  in  Northern 
Virginia,  and  afterwards  till  August,  was  under  General 
Banks. 

In  this  month  he  was  made  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers  and  ordered  to  report  to  General  Robert  An- 
derson, at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Assigned  by  this  com- 
mander to  Camp  Dick  Hobinson,  to  relieve  Nelson,  who, 
though  only  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  had,  by  his  indomit- 


BATTLE    OF    MILL    SPRING.  265 

able  energy,  assembled  there  a  force  of  six  thousand  men, 
he  at  once  began  the  re-organization  of  the  troops, 

Zollicoffer  now  marched  into  Kentucky  through 
Cumberland  Gap,  and  Thomas  made  preparations  to  meet 
him.  He  sent  General  Schoepf  to  establish  Wild-Cat 
Camp,  twenty  miles  southeast  of  him,  who,  being  attacked 
by  Zollicoffer,  beat  him  and  drove  him  back  to  Cumber- 
land Gap.  Thomas  immediately  advanced  to  Crab  Orch- 
ard, to  follow  up  this  success  and  relieve  East  Tennessee. 
But  the  rebels,  assembling  in  large  force  at  Bowling 
Green,  arrested  the  movement,  and  he  was  ordered  to 
march  to  Lebanon,  where  he  organized  the  first  division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 

In  the  meantime,  Zollicoffer  had  again  moved  for- 
ward, and,  crossing  the  Cumberland  river,  established  his 
camp  at  Mill  Spring.  Thomas  was  now  ordered  by  Buell 
to  move  against  him,  and  attack  him  in  his  intrenchments. 
This  was  in  mid- winter,  and  long,  heavy  rains  had  made 
the  roads  mere  mortar  beds,  over  which  the  new  recruits 
marched  wearily  and  the  guns  were  drawn  with  great 
difficulty.  Thomas  made  slow  progress,  but  pushing 
steadily  forward,  he,  at  the  end  of  nineteen  days,  arrived 
at  Logan's  Cross  Roads,  within  ten  miles  of  the  rebel 
camp.  Here  he  halted  to  let  the  remainder  of  his  army, 
that  was  still  toiling  painfully  forward,  come  up,  and  also 
to  arrange  with  Schoepf,  who  was  at  Somerset,  for  a  com- 
bined attack  on  the  enemy.  But  the  rebel  General  being 
informed  by  his  spies  and  scouts  that  only  a 'portion  of 
the  Federal  army  had  come  up,  determined  not  to  wait 
behind  his  works  until  the  forces  "moving  against  him 
could  be  concentrated.  So,  on  Saturday  evening,  the 
1 8th  of  January,  he  marched  out  of  his  camp,  and  push- 
ing on  all  night,  at  daylight  came  suddenly  upon  OUT 


266  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

pickets.  The  assault  was  totally  unexpected,  but  Thomas 
was  in  the  saddle  at  the  first  gun,  and  galloping  to  the 
front,  soon  had  two  regiments  in  line  of  battle,  which 
nobly  held  the  enemy  at  bay  until  the  other  troops  could 
be  brought  up,  when  the  contest  became  close  and  stub- 
born. For  half  an  hour  the  firing  was  rapid,  close  and 
heavy,  but  at  last  the  Ninth  Ohio  moved  down  on  the 
rebel  left  with  the  bayonet,  while  the  Twelfth  Kentucky 
fell  simultaneously  on  the  other  flank,  crumbling  both  to 
pieces,  and  hurling  the  whole  disordered  line  back  behind 
its  reserves.  The  next  moment,  the  rebel  bugles  were 
heard  sounding  retreat,  and  the  baffled  enemy  retreated 
in  confusion  to  their  intrenchments,  leaving  their  com- 
mander, Zollicoffer,  dead  on  the  field.  Thomas  gather- 
big  up  his  wounded,  followed  after,  and  came  before  the 
intrenchments  at  evening,  but  not  wishing  to  risk  an 
assault  by  night  resolved  to  wait  till  morning.  The  rebels, 
however,  that  same  night  abandoned  their  provisions, 
artillery,  wagons,  ammunition,  and  camp  equipage  of 
every  kind,  and  fled  across  the  river,  streaming,  a  disorderly 
mob,  over  the  country,  and  carrying  consternation  wherever 
they  went. 

This  was  the  first  victory,  of  any  importance,  that  we 
had  won  since  the  war  commenced,  and  hence  caused  in- 
tense satisfaction  throughout  the  country.  It  first  brought 
Thomas1  name  into  public  notice,  and  from  that  day  on 
he  never  was  beaten. 

He  now  resumed  his  original  plan  of  invading  East 
Tennessee,  and  began  to  collect  the  necessary  subsistence 
for  his  army.  But  when  about  ready  to  move,  he  re- 
ceived orders  from  General  Buell  to  join  him  with  his 
command,  preparatory  to  an  immediate  advance  on  Bowl- 
ing Green.  But  the  fall  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson 


RETREATS    TO   LOUISVILLE.  267 

caused  the  evacuation  of  this  place,  and  Thomas  was  or- 
dered to  take  his  division  to  Louisville,  and  thence  by 
steamers  to  Nashville,  which  he  reached  on  the  2d  of 
March.  Here  he  remained  till  May,  when  Buell  began 
his  march  across  the  country  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  in 
order  to  join  Grant's  army,  encamped  there.  His  divi- 
sion being  in  reserve,  did  not  reach  the  battle-field  till 
the  victory  was  won. 

Havuig  been  made  major-general  of  volunteers,  his 
division  was  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  he  given  the  command  of  the  right  wing.  He  bore 
his  part  in  the  slow  campaign  that  followed,  and  after  the 
evacuation  of  Corinth,  was  stationed  with  his  division 
along  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad,  his  command 
extending  from  luka,  in  Mississippi,  to  Tuscumbia,  in 
Alabama. 

In  June,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
as  it  was  then  called,  and  concentrated  his  division  at 
Dechard,  Tennessee.  Leaving  Schoepf  in  command  here, 
he  went  to  McMinnville,  to  take  charge  of  two  divisions 
located  in  that  place.  In  September,  he  received  orders 
from  Buell  to  join  him  at  Murfreesboro.  On  reaching  that 
town,  however,  he  found  that  Buell  was  falling  back  to- 
ward Nashville,  and  had  left  orders  for  him  to  follow  on. 
He  did  so  ;  reaching  Nashville  on  the  8th,  and  was  im- 
mediately put  in  command  of  that  post.  But  Buell  con- 
tinuing to  fall  back  to  Louisville,  Thomas,  on  the  13th, 
received  orders  to  march  thither  also,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  month  reached  the  city. 

This  rapid  retreat  was  made  to  checkmate  Bragg, 
who,  with  a  heavy  force,  had  crossed  the  Cumberland 
mountains,  and  was  invading  Kentucky. 

At  Louisville,  a  telegram  was  received  from  Wash 


268  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

ington,  removing  Buell  from  the  head  of  the  army,  and 
putting  Thomas  in  his  place.  The  latter  immediately  de- 
clined the  proffered  honor,  and  telegraphed  back,  urging 
the  Government  to  retain  Buell,  as  he  was  the  only  pro- 
per man  to  command  the  army.  In  accordance  with  his 
earnest  request,  the  order  was  rescinded,  and  Buell  re- 
tained in  command.  Thomas  knew,  if  those  at  Wash- 
ington did  not,  the  great  military  capacity  of  Buell. 

The  latter  now  moved  off  to  give  Bragg  battle  wherev- 
er he  could  find  him,  Thomas  being  second  in  command 

After  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Buell  was  again  re- 
moved, and  the  command  of  the  army  given  to  Rose- 
crans,  which  again  assumed  the  name  of  the  u  Army  of 
the  Cumberland."  When  the  latter  commenced  his  ad- 
vance on  Murfreesboro,  Thomas,  at  the  head  of  the 
Fourteenth  Corps,  had  the  centre. 

The  career  of  Thomas  since  the  commencement  of  the 
war  had  been  in  perfect  keeping  with  Rosecrans1  early 
opinion  of  him.  He  had  called  him  Washington,  in 
their  early  days,  and  the  latter  had  showed  by  his  pru- 
dence, combined  with  daring,  his  correct  judgment  and 
unmoved  equanimity,  his  probity  and  modesty,  and, 
above  all,  his  unconquerable  firmness,  that  he  deserved 
the  appellation.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  in  the  im- 
portant campaign  before  him,  Rosecrans  should  lean 
heavily  on  him,  and  look  to  him  more  than  to  all  others 
for  advice  and  counsel.  His  frequent  confidential  inter- 
views with  him  soon  became  known  to  the  army,  and 
the  more  they  saw  that  "  Pap  Thomas,"  as  the  soldiers 
familiarly  and  affectionately  called  him,  had  to  do 
with  the  management  of  affairs,  the  greater  their  con- 
fidence became  in  their  new  commander.  Thomas  was 
known  throughout  the  army  by  another  favorite  sobri 


"SLOW  TROT."  209 

quet,  "  Old  Slow  Trot ; "  given  to  him  on  account  of  his 
deliberate  and  dignified  movements.  Sometimes  his  escort 
would  get  impatient,  and  hurry  on  at  a  gallop,  which 
Thomas,  absorbed  in  reverie,  would  not  at  first  notice^ 
but  the  moment  he  did,  would  order,  "  sloiv  trot  /"  when 
the  eager  riders  would  be  compelled  to  draw  rein,  and 
adopt  the  more  dignified  gait  of  their  chieftain. 

In  the  first  day's  terrible  defeat  at  Murfreesboro, 
when  our  whole  right  wing  was  crushed  into  fragments, 
and  swung  back  till  it  stood  at  right  angles  to  the  centre, 
where  Thomas  was  with  his  thirteen  thousand  veterans, 
that  gallant  leader's  usually  quiet  nature  became  thorough- 
ly aroused.  He  was  a  rock  in  his  steadfast  immovabil- 
ity, but  like  that  rock,  when  once  loosened  from  its  bed, 
and  descending  the  cliffs  in  its  headlong  plunge,  was  swift 
and  terrible,  and  resistless  in  his  onset.  As  he  saw  the 
line  crumble  rapidly  away,  his  blue  eyes  flashed,  and  his 
teeth  set  like  a  vice. 

In  the  crisis  of  the  fight,  as  he  spurred  over  the  field, 
he  came  upon  Rosecrans,  Crittenden,  and  McCook,  with 
their  respective  staffs  and  escorts,  gathered  on  a  gentle 
eminence.  The  whole  presented  a  brilliant  group,  which 
at  once  attracted  the  attention  of  the.  enemy,  and  the  next 
'instant  shell  and  shot  were  rushing  and  hissing  over  them. 
McCook,  seeing  the  hazard  they  were  running,  exclaimed, 
"  This  is  a  nice  mark  for  shells.  Can't  you  thin  out, 
men?"  Thomas^  throwing  a  quiet  glance  around  him, 
remarked,  with  a  tone  of  bitterness,  "  I  guess  it's  about 
as  safe  one  place  as  another,"  and  turning  his  horse's 
head  to  the  front,  rode  off  to  where  the  storm  was  raging 
fiercest. 

When  the  gallant  Sheridan — the  last  of  the  right 
wing — was  compelled  to  give  way,  the  rebels  pressing  on, 


270  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

struck  Thomas'  right  flank,  and  poured  around  his 
rear.  For  i  moment  he  looked  up  astonished,  and  then 
turning  to  Negley  said,  quickly  and  sternly,  "  Cut  your 
way  out."  With  fixed  bayonets  the  brave  fellows  moved 
swiftly  on  the  victorious  foe,  and  with  the  naked  steel  did 
"  cut "  a  terrible  path  through  them,  clearing  once  more 
his  rear. 

In  the  consultation  of  general  officers  on  the  cold  and 
stormy  night  after  the  first  day's  battle,  Thomas'  voice 
was  for  fighting  it  out  on  the  ground  they  occupied. 

Hosecrans,  in  his  report  of  the  battle,  speaking  ot 
Thomas,  calls  him  "true  and  prudent,  distinguished  in 
council  and  on  many  battle-fields  for  his  courage." 

The  next  day  the  enemy  made  several  attempts  to 
advance  on  the  position  of  Thomas,  but  was  met  with 
such  a  fierce  fire  of  artillery  that  he  dared  not  leave  the 
woods.  This  was  New  Year's  Day.  On  the  2d,  Bragg, 
at  daylight,  opened  a  terrific  artillery  fire  on  him,  but 
did  not  venture  on  an  attack.  Toward  sunset,  Critten- 
den  advanced  across  the  river  to  reconnoitre,  when  the 
enemy  fell  on  him  in  such  overwhelming  numbers,  that 
though  he  bore  up  gallantly  for  awhile,  he  was  at  length 
compelled  to  fall  back.  This  being  reported  to  Thomas, 
he  ordered  Negley  to  move  at  once  to  his  support,  which 
he  did,  the  men  crossing  the  river  almost  on  a  run,  and 
charging  the  rebels  so  impetuously  that  they  broke  and 
fled,  leaving  four  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  stand  of  colors 
in  our  hands. 

Bragg  having  retreated  on  the  night  of  the  3d,  Thomas 
spent  the  next  night  in  burying  the  dead  left  on  the  field, 
and  the  following  day,  preceded  by  Stanley's  cavalry, 
marched  with  waving  banners  and  triumphant  music  into 
Murfreesboro,  and  took  possession  of  the  place. 


THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA.  271 

When  Rosecrans,  after  a  long  repose,  finally  took  up 
his  march  for  Chattanooga,  Thomas,  as  ever,  was  his  right- 
hand  man. 

THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA. 


After  the  evacuation  of  Chattanooga,  and  when 
Eosecranz,  almost  too  late,  found  that  Bragg,  instead  of 
being  in  full  flight,  as  he  supposed,  was  actually  march- 
ing back  on  the  place ;  thus  compelling  him  to  strain 
every  nerve  to  concentrate  his  scattered  corps,  a  part  of 
which  had  got  beyond  the  enemy,  with  the  Lookout 
Mountain  between  them ;  he  turned  to  Thomas,  as  his 
chief  reliance,  to  save  the  army. 

Crittenden  was  alone  in  the  Chickamauga  Valley,  op- 
posed to  the  whole  rebel  army,  which  was  moving  back 
on  him.  Thomas,  separated  from  him  by  the  Lookout 
Mountain,  was  at  once  ordered  to  fling  his  corps  across  it 
to  his  rescue.  The  rebel  Hindman  was  directed  to  hold 
the  only  gap  by  which  he  could  pass  to  reach  him  in 
time,  and  had  he  done  so,  Crittenden,  if  not  the  whole 
army,  would  have  been  lost.  But  Thomas  was  too  quick 
for  him,  and,  sweeping  through  it,  left  Nagley  to  hold  it, 
while  he  closed  up  with  Crittenden,  to  wait  for  Mo 
Cook,  struggling  back  from  his  long  and  bootless  march 
to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  Bragg.  Finding  that  the  enemy 
was  swinging  around  Crittenden's  left,  to  get  between 
him  and  Chattanooga ;  and  seeing  very  plainly  that  the 
heaviest  fighting  would  be  there,  Rosecranz  directed 
Thomas  to  leave  his  position  on  Crittenden's  right,  and, 
falling  back  by  night,  march  past  his  rear,  and  plant 
himself  on  his  left,  where  the  storm  was  certain  first  to 


272  MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

break.  When  at  last  it  did  suddenly  strike  his  extreme 
left,  and  drove  the  advanced  divisions  broken  back,  he 
galloped  to  the  front,  and  railing  by  his  presence  the 
disordered  battalions,  hurled  them  with  such  fury  on  the 
shouting  foe  that  he  suddenly  halted.  The  sight  of  his 
brave  regulars  in  confusion,  of  Scribner's  brigade  cut  off, 
and  well  nigh  lost,  aroused  the  sleeping  lion  of  his  na- 
ture ;  and,  re-forming,  as  by  magic,  his  whole  line,  till  it 
presented  once  more  a  solid  front,  he  ordered  the  whole 
to  advance.  The  troops,  inspired  by  his  presence,  and 
catching  the  lofty  spirit  that  breathed  in  every  look  and 
action,  sent  up  a  shout  of  defiance.  Not  swift  and  head- 
long, but  grand  and  steady,  like  its  great  commander,  the 
mighty  line  swept  steadily  over  the  field.  Longstreet, 
who  commanded  here,  and  a  moment  before  felt  siu*e  of 
victory,  saw  with  amazement  its  terrible  advance.  He 
at  once  ordered  a  charge,  and,  calling  up  his  reserves, 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  arrest  it.  But  its  onward 
movement  was  like  the  inrolling  tide  of  the  sea,  crush- 
ing beneath  its  resistless  mass  of  foaming  waves  every 
obstacle  that  lay  in  its  path.  The  rebel  batteries  played 
on  it  with  deadly  effect ;  yet  still  on  it  kept.  Forced 
back,  the  hostile  guns  would  wheel  into  new  positions, 
and  again  sweep  the  firm  formations  with  their  rapid 
•fire,  but  all  in  vain.  The  rebel  leaders,  enraged  to  see  their 
troops  give  way,  flung  themselves  along  the  line  with 
flashing  swords,  and  oaths,  and  stirring  appeals  ;  but  the 
steadfast  rock  was  now  in  motion,  and  each  onward  step 
was  a  crash.  Never  did  troops  rally  more  bravely,  and 
fling  themselves  into  the  jaws  of  death  with  more  heroism 
than  did  these  veterans  of  Longstreet.  But  scarcely 
would  the  head  of  a  column  be  formed,  ere  it  would  melt 
away  before  the  destructive  fire  that  met  it.  The  move- 


THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA.  273 

merit  of  that  unbroken  line  was  like  the  march  of  fate. 
Everything  went  down  before  it,  and  the  rebel  host  was 
driven  remorselessly  back  for  more  than  a  mile. 

But  while  victory  was  thus  perching  on  Thomas's 
standard,  the  centre  gave  way  before  the  impetuous  onset 
of  the  enemy,  and  he  had  to  halt,  and  then  to  fall  back, 
to  avert  the  disaster  there. 

Baffled  in  their  efforts  to  crush  Thomas,  the  rebel  host 
swept  down  our  whole  line  to  the  right,  vainly  striving  to 
find  some  weak  point,  where  they  might  break  through, 
until  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  conflict,  and  the  two 
armies  lay  down  to  wait  for  the  Sabbath  morning  to 
light  them  once  more  to  the  scene  of  carnage. 

During  this  night  Rosecrans  made  some  changes  in  his 
positions ;  and  by  withdrawing  his  right,  till  it  rested  on 
Missionary  Ridge,  he  made  it  firmer,  and  shortened  his 
line  of  battle  by  a  mile.  Thomas  in  the  mean  time  threw 
up  a  breastwork  of  rails  and  logs  in  front  of  his  position. 
The  rebels  being  heavily  reinforced  that  night,  felt  con- 
fident that  the  next  day  they  would  secure  that  victory 
which,  but  for  Thomas,  would  have  been  theirs  before 
nightfall  the  day  before.  The  Sabbath  morning  dawned 
peacefully  over  the  quiet  valley,  and  spread  its  soft  light 
on  the  overhanging  mountains ;  but  its  holy  quiet  was 
soon  broken  by  the  roar  of  artillery,  as  the  enemy  once 
more  moved  down  on  our  line  of  battle.  As  on  the  clay 
before,  the  storm  burst  first  on  Thomas.  The  rebels  ad- 
vanced against  his  position  with  determined  valor,  and 
though  that  frail  breastwork  was  an  unbroken  line  of 
fire,  before  which  the  advancing  battalions  went  down 
like  frost-work,  fresh  ones  still  came  on.  The  dead  lay 
in  heaps  in  front  of  Thomas,  but  there  seemed  no  end  to 
the  living  tide  that  still  pressed  over  the  slippery  ground, 


274  MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

Maddened  by  the  stubborn  resistance  that  met  them, 
and  determined,  at  whatever  sacrifice  of  life,  to  carry  that 
vital  position,  the  rebel  leaders  gathered  their  over- 
whelming forces  for  one  final  assault.  Thomas  saw  with 
anxiety  the  deep,  heavy  formations,  and  rode  along  his 
bleeding  line  to  steady  it.  Heralded  by  artillery,  the 
assaulting  columns  moved  steadily  forward,  and  though 
met  with  the  same  destructive  fire  as  before,  never  for  a 
moment  faltered.  In  vain  the  half-demolished  breast- 
work glowed  with  flame — in  vain  grape  and  canister 
made  horrible  gaps  in  the  deep-set  ranks — determined  to 
be  stopped  by  nothing  short  of  annihilation,  they  crept 
nearer  and  nearer,  till  the  hostile  lines  could  look  sternly 
in  each  other's  eyes.  Outnumbered  and  exhausted, 
Thomas's  brave  troops  now  began  to  waver.  He  made 
superhuman  efforts  to  hold  them  to  their  work ;  but, 
overborne  by  mere  weight  alone,  they  could  no  longer 
maintain  their  ground.  Division  after  division  slowly 
yielded  to  the  pressure,  until  the  whole  corps  swung  dis- 
orderly back.  Finding  a  new  and  strong  position, 
Thomas  at  length  succeeded  in  rallying  them,  and  once 
more  presented  a  determined  front  to  the  enemy.  In  the 
mean  time,  he  sent  off  an  urgent  appeal  for  help.  It  was 
now  about  noon,  and  before  his  appeal  could  reach  Rose- 
cranz,  the  latter  had  issued  that  fatal  order  to  Wood  to 
change  his  position,  which  being  misunderstood  by  some 
one  or  wrongly  given  by  Rosecrans,left  that  sudden  gap  in 
our  lines  which  the  enemy  was  so  prompt  to  take  advantage 
of,  and  poured  through  it— cutting  the  army  in  twain,  and 
hurling  the  centre  and  left  into  irrecoverable  fragments. 
Rosecrans's  headquarters  were  swept  as  by  a  sudden  hur- 
ricane, and  he  and  McCook  and  Crittenden  borne  back 
with  the  demolished  army.  The  battk  seemed  over,  for 


THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA.  275 

all  was  gone  save  the  exhausted  left  wing,  which  stood 
alone  on  the  tumultuous  field.  The  prospect  might  well 
daunt  the  stoutest  heart, — &  few  divisions,  exhausted  by 
a  whole  forenoon's  desperate  fighting,  cumbered  with) 
wounded,  and  sadly  weakened  in  number,  against  full 
seventy  thousand  victorious  and  exultant  troops.  Thus 
stood  the  battle  a  little  after  noon,  on  that  eventful  Sab- 
bath. ,But  this  was  just  the  situation  to  develope  the 
true  strength  of  Thomas's  character.  With  an  almost 
exhaustless  reserve  power,  it  required  a  desperate  condi- 
tion to  bring  it  forth  into  the  light.  He  had  no  thought 
of  retreating.  It  might  be  Thermopylae  over  again  in 
the  hopelessness  of  victory,  but  it  still  should  be  Ther- 
mopylae in  its  fame  to  all  future  time.  Right  there  he 
and  his  braves  would  stand,  and  if  they  could  do  no  more 
would  leave  a  bright  example  for  coming  generations. 
Lining  the  semicircular  ridge  on  which  he  was  posted 
with  cannon,  he  sternly  awaited  the  shock.  Nor  did  he 
have  long  to  wait,  for  soon  the  whole  rebel  army  moved 
in  one  mighty  mass  upon  him.  But  so  well  had  he 
planted  his  batteries,  and  so  steady  and  deadly  was  the 
fire  that  swept  the  field  in  front,  that  all  the  exertions 
of  its  leaders  could  not  carry  their  troops  through  it. 
Again  and  again  they  advanced  in  splendid  order,  and 
charged  with  unearthly  yells  against  that  wall  of  fire. 
Our  men,  lying  down  behind  the  ridge,  and  rising  only 
as  they  fired,  presented  a  poor  mark  for  the  foe,  while 
the  very  numbers  of  the  latter,  in  the  open  field,  allowed 
every  shot  to  tell.  Hour  after  hour  the  fighting  and 
carnage  here  were  awful. 

Seeing  at  length  that  his  front  could  not  be  earned, 
the  rebel  leaders  determined  to  get  in  his  rear,  and  so 
finish  him  with  one  blow.  Through  the  ridge  on  which; 

18 


276  MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

his  right  rested,  and  hack  of  him,  a  gorge  ran,  and  the 
enemy,  moving  along  out  of  sight  beyond  this  ridge, 
now  began  to  pour  through  it,  directly  in  his  rear.  Even 
the  lion  heart  of  Thomas  stood  still  at  this  appalling 
sight.  He  could  spare  no  troops  to  drive  back  this  force 
— *io  retreat  could  save  him.  It  could  no  longer  be  a 
battle — it  must  be  a  butchery,  or  a  quick  surrender.  Oh, 
to  come  to  this  after  all !  But  fate,  as  if  trying  this  man 
to  the  utmost,  and  relenting  a£  last,  at  this  critical  mo- 
ment brought  him  succor.  While  on  his  right  the  rebels 
were  streaming  in  overwhelming  masses  to  his  rear,  he 
saw  far  away  to  the  left  a  cloud  of  dust  rising  over  the 
tr£e-tops,  and  soon  after,  dark  columns  emerging  into 
the  open  ground.  Were  they  friends  or  foes  ?  was  the 
anxious  question  he  asked  himself.  Cut  off  from  his 
commander,  he  had  ngt  heard  from  hhii  for  hours — no 
courier  had  reached  him,  and  he  could  not  tell  whether 
it  was  the  enemy  thus  closing  in  on  him  from  every  side, 
or  whether  help  was  coming  at  last.  At  one  time  he 
said  nervously  to  his  staff:  "Take  my  glass,  some  of 
you  whose  horse  is  steady  —  tell  me  what  you  can 
see"  A  civilian,  standing  near  him,  remarked  that 
he  felt  sure  that  he  could  see  the  United  States  flag. 
"  Do  you  think  so  ?  do  you  think  so  ? "  asked  the 
General  nervously.  Captain  Johnson,  of  Nagley's  staff, 
having  got  separated  from  his  commander  in  the 
fight,  at  this  moment  galloped  up  and  reported  him- 
himself  for  duty.  "  Find  out,"  almost  shouted  Thomas, 
through  his  set  teeth,  "  what  troops  those  are  coming 
in  on  the  left."  In  the  mean  time  he  never  turned  his 
glass  away  from  them.  Nearer  and  nearer  they  came, 
every  moment  big  with  hope  and  dread.  Long  and 
anxiously  he  looked,  till  at  last  his  glass  drops,  and  a 


r 


THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA.  277 

gleam  like  sudden  lightning  passes  over  that  ftice,  which 
had  grown  dark  with  trouble.  It  is  the  battle-flag  of 
Granger  that  flutters  in  the  breeze,  and  the  fierce,  swiffc 
tread  of  those  hurrying  battalions  is  bringing  help.  Oh 
what  a  load  was  lifted  from  his  heart  as  the  truth  at  last 
came  home  to  him.  The  gallant  Granger  was  hurrying 
to  the  field.  It  needed  no  consultation  to  tell  Mm  what 
to  do.  A  few  minutes  more  and  he  would  have  been 
,too  late.  The  impetuous  Steadman,  his  soul  on  fire  at 
the  fearful  peril,  seized  the  regimental  colors,  and  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  those  two  brigades,  fell  like  a 
loosened  cliff  on  Hindman's  columns,  now  almost  in 
Thomas's  rear.  There  was  no  skirmishing — no  move- 
ments for  an  advantageous  position — right  on,  and  right 
over  the  astonished  enemy,  they  went  in  one  wild 
charge,  bearing  back  the  astonished  broken  columns  with 
irresistible  fury.  It  was  over  in  twenty  minutes.  Yet 
in  that  brief  time  a  thousand  of  those  two  immortal 
brigades  had  fallen.  Scarcely  had  the  smoke  of  the 
onset  cleared  away,  when  Thomas,  with  inexpressible 
delight,  saw  the  regimental  colors  waving  along  the 
ridge  where  just  before  the  rebel  banners  had  floated. 
The  shout  that  went  up  at  the  sight  was  the  shout  of 
victory.  What  Steadman  had  so  gallantly  won  he  nobly 
held,  and  though  the  enemy  made  desperate  struggles  to 
get  back  their  lost  advantage,  it  was  all  in  vain. 

As  a  last  effort,  they  moved  a  column  around  to  the 
left  to  get  in  the  rear  in  that  direction.  Thomas  saw  it 
approaching,  and,  turning  to  Reynolds,  said :  "  Go  in 
there."  lie  did  go  in,  walking  straight  over  the  column, 
capturing  several  hundred  prisoners,  and  scattering  it  in 
confusion. 

.Night  now  was  coming  on,  and  the  rebels  rallied  for 


278  MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  II.  THOMAS. 

a  last  effort.  Thomas  saw  them  coming  steadily  on 
through  the  gloom,  and,  with  the  order  "  to  stand  fast," 
awaited  their  approach.  When  the  shadowy  mass  came 
within  striking  distance,  he  shouted,  "  Give  them  the 
cold  steel !  "  With  bayonets  at  charge,  the  line,  with 
one  loud,  defiant  cry.  leaped  forward.  The  rebels  caught 
the  sheen  of  the  levelled  steel  in  the  dim  light,  and 
turned  and  fled. 

Without  food,  water,  or  ammunition,  Thomas  saw 
that  he  could  not  stay  where  he  was,  and  so  fell  back 
unmolested  to  Rossville ;  and  next  day  the  whole  army 
retired  to  Chattanooga. 

Thomas  at  once  became  the  favorite  of  the  nation. 
The  rockfast  firmness  and  splendid  courage  which  had 
saved  us  from  overwhelming  defeat — that  lofty  heroism 
which  scoffed  at  numbers,  and  scorned  to  retreat,  and 
that  noble  devotion  which  counted  his  life  as  nothing 
when  the  honor  of  his  country  was  in  jeopardy,  extorted 
unbounded  admiration  from  every  heart.  But  the  hero 
of  all  this  did  not  seem  to  think  he  had  done  anything 
remarkable.  He  simply  felt  that  he  had  whipped  the 
enemy,  saved  the  honor  of  the  flag  of  his  corps,  and  was 
satisfied. 

He  remained  cooped  up  in  Chattanooga  with  Rose- 
cranz,  until  the  latter  was  removed,  when  he  assumed 
command,  until  the  arrival  of  Grant.  The  hero  of  Vicks 
burgh  sought  his  advice,  and  leaned  heavily  upon  him 
for  aid.  When  he  planned  his  grand  attack  on  the 
strong  positions  of  the  enemy,  Thomas  commanded  the 
centre,  on  which  was  to  rest  the  fate  of  the  battle. 
While  Hooker  and  Sherman  were  getting  into  position 
on  either  flank,  Ve  made  a  bold  reconnoissance. 


MOVEMENT   ON   MISSIONARY   RIDGE.  279 

of  the  enemy's  lines,  and  took  possession  of  Orchard 
Knob,  from  which  he  was  to  make  the  decisive  move  on 
Missionary  Ridge.  Here,  from  early  in  the  morning  till 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  he  held  his  strong  battalions 
like  hounds  in  the  leash,  while  the  thunder  of  Hooker's 
and  Sherman's  artillery  shook  the  hills.  And  when  at 
last  the  order  "  Forward,"  broke  along  the  silent  line,  his 
noble  troops,  knowing  that  his  eye  was  upon  them,  swept 
gaily  over  the  mile  or  more  of  broken  ground,  toward  the 
base  of  the  ridge,  taking  the  shot  and  shell  from  the 
heights  above  as  unconcernedly  as  though  they  had  been 
hailstones.  Thomas  saw  them  with  delight  roll  like  a 
dark,  resistless  wave  over  the  rifle-pits  at  the  base  of  the 
steep  hill,  whose  top  was  black  with  batteries  above,  and 
around  which  the  sulphurous  clouds  hung  in  angry  masses. 
Side  by  side  with  Grant  he  stood,  and  watched  the  regi- 
ments clamber  up  the  steep  acclivity,  lacing  here  and 
there  the  slope  with  waving  lines,  while  puffs  of  smoke 
here,  and  there,  and  everywhere,  showed  where  brave 
men  were  struggling  and  falling.  When  the  top  was 
finally  reached,  and  the  rebel  line  broken  beyond  redemp- 
tion, he  dashed  his  spurs  into  his  horse,  and  was  soon 
pouring  his  columns  forward  on  the  retreating  foe. 

After  the  pursuit  was  abandoned,  he  returned  to 
Chattanooga,  where  he  remained  for  the  winter.  When 
Grant  was  promoted  to  the  chief  command,  and  Sherman 
put  in  his  place,  the  latter  turned  to  Thomas  "  with  the 
same  confidence  that  Grant  and  Rosecrans  and  Buell 
had  done  before  him."  The  reliance  which  every  com- 
mander reposed  on  him  was  so  plain,  even  to  the  common 
soldier,  that  he  began  to  be  called  the  "brains  of  the 
army."  He  and  Sherman  were  as  opposite  as  two  great 
commanders  well  could  be,  and  at  first  glance  one  would 


280  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

nave  said  they  never  could  work  together.  One  was 
methodical,  attempting  nothing  that  was  not  based  on 
strict  military  rules ;  the  other  daring  and  ready  to  make 
rules  for  himself.  But  while  Thomas  did  everything  ac- 
cording to  the  well-established  principles  of  military  sci- 
ence, he  was  far  from  being  a  martinet.  He  did  not  let 
rules  use  him,  but  he  used  them.  He  was  constitution- 
ally methodical,  and  if  he  did  anything  at  all  he  must  do 
it  in  his  own  way.  He  himself  was  aware  of  this,  and 
hence  would  not  permit  the  Government  or  his  superiors 
to  force  him  to  make  a  movement  if  he  was  expected  to 
take  the  responsibility,  until  he  was  ready.  He  would 
serve  as  a  subordinate  cheerfully,  and  go  anywhere,  even 
to  death  if  he  was  ordered,  but  if  made  responsible  for 
success,  he  must  be  left  alone. 

Yet  though  so  unlike  as  these  two  men  were,  instead 
of  jarring  with  each  other,  they  seemed  exactly  fitted  to  act 
together.  Each  appeared  to  be  the  supplement  to  the 
other,  and  while  Sherman  leaned  with  confidence  on  the 
solid  judgment  of  Thomas,  the  latter  felt  pride  in  the 
daring,  brilliant  genius  of  the  other,  and  so,  though  differ- 
ent in  almost  every  particular,  they  moved  on  in  perfect 
accord  to  glory  and  victory  together. 

When  Sherman  commenced  his  grand  movement  into 
Georgia,  with  the  distant  Atlanta  his  objective  point,  of 
the  hundred  thousand  men  that  composed  his  army, 
over  sixty-seven  thousand  were  under  the  command  of 
Thomas,  and  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery, the  latter  had  one  hundred  and  thirty.  It  was 
plain  that  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  to  be  Slier 
man's  chief  reliance  in  reaching  Atlanta. 

When  the  latter,  at  the  outset,  sent  McPherson  to 
make  the  flank  movement  which  should  force  Johnston 


AT   ATLANTA.  281 

from  the  strong  position  at  Dalton,  Thomas  moved  boldly 
up  in  front  to  occupy  him  till  the  former  could  reach  his 
destination.  It  was  not  expected  that  he  would  deci- 
mate his  army  by  a  desperate  attempt  to  carry  the  posi- 
tion by  storm,  yet  it  was  necessary  that  his  demonstra- 
tions against  it  should  be  heavy  and  bold,  so  that  the 
enemy  would  feel  compelled  to  keep  all  his  force  in  hand 
to  hold  it.  On  the  7th  of  May,  Thomas  seized  the  strong 
position  at  Tunnel  Hill,  driving  the  enemy's  cavalry  be- 
fore him ;  and  two  days  after  carried  Rockyface  Ridge, 
above  the  Gap,  and  threatened  the  latter  so  seriously  that 
Johnston  did  not  send  off  any  troops  to  impede  McPher- 
son's  movement,  till  he  got  within  a  mile  of  Resaca,  his 
point  of  destination.  He  lost  a  thousand  men  in  this 
bold  feint,  for  it  was  designed  to  be  nothing  mora 

Johnston  retreated  to  Resaca,  and  here  in  the  san- 
guinary battle  that  followed,  Thomas  as  usual  held  the 
centre  of  our  line.  At  Kenesaw  Mountain,  the  chief 
fighting  was  done  by  his  army. 

When  the  army  finally  approached  Atlanta,  the  first 
grand  assault  of  Hood  was  made  on  Thomas,  while  in 
the  act  of  forming  his  lines,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
desperate  of  the  war.  Though  caught  unexpectedly, 
and  while  getting  into  position,  he  nevertheless  was 
found  prepared,  as  he  always  was  for  any  emergency. 
His  orders  flew  like  lightning  over  the  battle-field ;  and 
though  the  rebel  troops  rushed  to  death  as  to  a  banquet, 
determined  to  force  their  way  through,  they  were  mowed 
down  so  remorselessly,  that  they  were  at  length  compelled 
to  abandon  the  attempt,  leaving,  as  Thomas  reported,  five 
thousand  on  the  field. 

When  Sherman,  finding  Atlanta  too  strong  to  be  car- 
ried by  assault,  determined  to  place  his  army  below  on 


282  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE   H.    THOMAS. 

the  Macon  road,  so  as  to  cut  off  its  supplies,  Thomas 
commanded  the  centre  in  the  delicate  movement,  and 
planted  himself  where  the  enemy  had  to  come  out  and 
attack  him.  This  the  latter  did  with  the  two  corps  of 
Lee  and  Hardee,  on  the  last  day  of  August,  falling  on 
him  with  the  s#me  desperation  that  .characterized  Hood's 
onset.  But  of  all  men  to  drive  from  a  position  once 
taken,  Thomas  was  the  worst ;  Chickamauga  had  shown 
that.  This  the  rebels  found  to  their  cost,  for  they  only 
dashed  on  a  rock,  and  after  a  protracted,  determined 
struggle,  recoiled  with  the  loss  of  full  three  thousand  men. 
This  settled  the  fate  of  Atlanta,  and  Hood  retreated  to 
Macon. 

When  in  September  following,  Hood  inarched  to  the 
rear  of  Sherman,  expecting  him  to  evacuate  Atlanta  and 
Georgia,  to  save  his  communications,  the  latter,  who  had 
secretly  sent  Thomas  to  Nashville  to  organize  and  equip 
a  new  army,  showed  no  concern,  but  kept  on  gathering 
his  supplies  preparatory  to  his  march  across  the  country 
to  the  Atlantic.  Hood  believing  that  the  latter,  when  he 
finally  left  his  front,  had  been  outgeneraled  and  compelled 
to  fall  back  to  Atlanta,  pressed  swiftly  forward  in  order 
to  seize  Nashville. 

Thomas,  in  the  meantime,  was  straining  every  nerve 
to  get  an  army  together  large  enough  to  cope  with  that 
of  Hood.  Schofield  had  charge  of  all  the  forces  in  the 
field  opposed  to  him,  and  these  Hood  drove  swiftly  before 
him,  and  came  near  capturing  the  entire  army  train.  At 
Franklin,  Schofield  gave  battle,  and  though  the  enemy 
was  repulsed,  he  himself  had  to  fall  rapidly  back  to  Nash- 
ville, leaving  Hood  to  claim  a  victory.  The  eyes  of  the 
latter  were  now  opened,  and  he  saw  that  Sherman  was 
moving  in  another  direction.  He  was  too  far  off  to  turn 


HOOD   AT   NASHVILLE.  283 

in  pursuit,  and  unless  he  could  take  Nashville,  his  whole 
movement  would  be  a  complete  failure.  He,  therefore, 
at  once  advanced  his  lines  around  the  city,  occupying  a 
crest  of  hills  some  four  or  five  miles  out  from  the  place,  and 
completely  invested  it  from  the  south.  The  defensive  works 
were  on  a  similar  series  of  hills  nearer  the  city.  Hood  also 
planted  batteries  on  the  Cumberland  river,  west  of  the 
place,  so  that  the  only  line  of  communication  left  open  to 
Thomas,  was  the  Nashville  and  Louisville  railroad.  If 
the  former  had  advanced  at  once  to  the  assault,  there  was 
a  possible  chance  of  success ;  but  the  moment  he  sat  down 
before  it  in  regular  siege,  giving  Thomas  just  what  he 
wanted  and  all  that  he  wanted — time — the  result  was  no 
longer  doubtful. 

Eight  gunboats,  including  the  iron-clad  Monitor, 
Neosho,  came  up  the  Cumberland,  and  were  quite  able 
to  take  care  of  Hood's  river  batteries.  The  people  were 
set  to  labor  on  the  fortifications,  and  two  lines  of  works, 
exterior  and  interior,  were  constructed  at  a  distance 
varying  from  a  mile  to  two  miles  from  the  city,  with  forts, 
redoubts  and  rifle-pits  at  the  necessary  points,  till  all  the 
outlying  hills  looked  like  separate  fortresses.  Early  in 
December,  Thomas  opened  on  him  with  artillery ;  but, 
said  an  officer,  "Hood  evidently  had  the  strange  idea 
that  Thomas  would  either  evacuate  without  fighting,  or 
would  be  starved  into  a  surrender  by  the  destruction  of 
his  communications ;  therefore,  all  he  had  to  do  was  to 
keep  good  his  investment,  and  strike  as  he  was  able  at  the 
Louisville  railroad,  just  as  Sherman  did  at  the  Macon 
road  when  aiming  at  Atlanta."  But  Thomas  witli  his 
works  completed,  "with  fair  supplies  of  all  kinds  on 
hand,  and  an  abundance  of  most,"  had  ceased  to  be 
anxious  about  maintaining  his  position,  and  "his  usually 


284  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

quiet  eyes  now  began  to  gleam  with  the  fierce  light  of 
battle;  and  it  was  soon  apparent  to  all  who  happened 
to  be  much  at  headquarters,  that '  old  Pap  George,1  as  his 
soldiers  persist  in  calling  him,  prudent  general  as  he  is, 
would  very  speedily  be  spoiling  for  a  fight." 

Although  he  was  now  to  all  appearance  ready  to  take 
the  field,  he  was  sadly  deficient  in  cavalry.  He  wished 
not  only  to  defeat  Hood,  but  to  have  the  means  of  pur- 
suing him  when  beaten.  It  was  reported  that  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  became  impatient  at  his  delay,  and  re- 
quested Grant  to  order  him  to  move,  and  that  the  latter 
telegraphed  him  the  views  of  the  Department,  and  got 
back  the  answer  that  he  was  not  ready  yet,  and,  if  he  was 
dissatisfied  with  his  course,  to  send  some  one  on  to  take 
his  place,  and  he  would  cheerfully  act  as  his  subordinate. 
But  this  report  was  not  true.  Grant,  of  his  own  sugges- 
tion, telegraphed  to  Thomas  that  he  wished  him  to  move 
at  once  upon  the  enemy,  and  he  replied,  in  substance,  as 
above.  Grant  sent  back  word  that  he  had  more  confi- 
dence in  him  than  any  other  man,  and  to  take  his  own 
time ;  still,  he  would  like  to  know  the  reasons  of  his  de^ 
lay.  But  Thomas,  determined  that  in  no  way  should 
these  reasons  leak  out,  did  not  give  them,  and  Grant  let 
him  alone,  to  act  as  his  own  judgment  dictated.  It  was 
well  that  he  did. 

Thomas  now  wrote  that  he  must  have  cavalry,  and  the- 
Secretary  of  War  telegraphed  Wilson,  chief  of  cavalry, 
to  seize  and  impress  all  serviceable  horses  wherever  he 
could  find  them  in  Kentucky  or  Tennessee ;  to  do  it 
quickly,  and  not  stand  on  the  form  of  his  action.  In  a 
week  Thomas  had  the  horses,  without  which  he  could  not 
have  moved;  though  by  no  means  the  cavalry  force  he 
needed.  By  the  middle  of  the  month  he  felt  ready  to 


BATTLE    OF   NASHVILLE.  285 

advance,  but  just  then  came  a  cold  snap,  which  made  all 
the  hills  aglare  with  ice,  so  that  neither  men  nor  animals 
could  keep  their  feet.  He  was  therefore  compelled  to 
wait  for  a  thaw.  At  length,  on  the  14th,  it  came,  and 
Thomas  seeing  that  probably  by  next  morning  the  surface 
of  the  ground  ^ould  once  more  be  soft,  gave  orders  to  be 
ready  to  attack  by  daylight. 

His  plan  of  battle  was  simple.  On  his  left,  the  coun- 
try was  rugged,  and  he  determined  to  make  a  feint  on 
Hood's  right  flank  in  that  direction,  while  he  massed  his 
main  force  on  his  own  right,  and,  covered  by  our  gunboats 
stationed  there,  crush  in  Hood's  left,  which  rested  on  the 
Cumberland,  and  roll  it  broken,  back  on  the  centre.  So, 
at  daylight,  A.  J.  Smith,  on  the  extreme  right,  with  the 
Sixteenth  Corps,  was  ordered  to  advance ;  Wilson's  cav- 
alry keeping  along  the  river  shore,  and  Wood,  with  the 
Fourth  Corps,  to  close  in  on  his  left,  while  Scho field, 
with  the  Twenty-third,  came  in  on  Wood's  left ;  though  he 
was  to  act  rather  as  a  reserve — thus  concentrating  three 
corps  on  the  rebel  left  Away  off  to  our  left,  Steadrnan, 
commanding  a  somewhat  motley,  mixed  body  of  troops, 
had  been  ordered  to  push  out  before  daylight,  with  a 
heavy  body  of  skirmishers,  on  the  rebel  right.  He  did 
so,  and  dashing  on  the  enemy's  pickets,  drove  them  back, 
and  kept  swiftly  on,  until  he  came  plump  upon  a  rebel 
battery,  in  front  of  which  was  a  deep  railroad  cut,  which 
the  troops  could  not  cross,  and  hence  were  repulsed 
with  heavy  loss.  Hood,  aroused  at  early  dawn  by  the 
heavy  firing  on  his  extreme  right,  had  scarcely  time  to 
ascertain  what  it  meant,  when  down  on  his  unsuspecting 
left,  like  a  loosened  flood,  came  the  two  corps  of  Smith 
and  Wood.  It  could  hardly  be  called  a  battle — so  sud- 
den and  overwhelming  was  the  onset,  that  the  enemy's 


286  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    II.    THOMAS. 

line  crumbled  to  atoms  before  it.  The  "  rock  of  Chick 
amauga"  was  unseated,  and  descending  in  its  fearful 
plunge.  With  a  single  blow,  Hood's  left  was  gone — 
driven  back  in.  confusion  on  the  centre.  "This  let  the 
cavalry  loose,  and  now  Wilson  swept  round  and  past  our 
right  like  a  thunderbolt,  and  hung  like  an«avenging  cloud 
on  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  rebels,  as  they  fell  sullenly 
back  on  their  centre." 

Aroused  to  the  imminent  peril  that  threatened  him, 
Hood  now  ordered  over  troops  from  his  right  to  stay  the 
reversed  tide  of  battle,  and  from  all  the  heights  around 
Nashville  could  be  seen  the  hurrying  lines  of  infantry 
and  artillery  sweeping  to  the  rescue. 

But  though  his  left  was  gone,  the  position  he  held  in 
the  centre  was  a  strong  one — high  hills,  covered  with 
breastworks,  lined  with  rifle-pits,  and  fringed  with  abattis, 
beyond  which  frowned  heavy  batteries  commanding  all 
the  open  country  below.  Smith  paused  before  this  for- 
midable barrier,  and  began  to  reconnoitre.  Wood  and 
Schoneld  now  came  up,  arid  all  day  long  Hood's  intrench- 
ments  were  swept  by  a  fierce  artillery  fire,  while  here  and 
there  the  infantry  attempted  to  find  a  weak  spot  in  his 
lines.  But  no  impression  was  made  on  the  strong  position 
the  enemy  occupied,  and  110  particular  advantage  gained, 
except  the  possession  of  a  battery,  which  was  carried  by 
a  gallant  rush.  Still,  the  results  of  the  whole  day  footed 
up  well,  2,000  prisoners  captured,  with  sixteen  pieces  of 
artillery. 

Thomas,  who  saw  that  no  more  could  be  done  that 
night,  for  it  was  now  getting  dark,  ordered  the  firing  to 
cease,  and  rode  off  to  Nashville  to  telegraph  his  success 
to  Washington.  Just  before  he  left,  however,  he  re- 
marked to  an  officer  in  his  quiet  way,  as  though  speaking 


SECOND  DAY'S  BATTLE.  287 

• 

only  of  some  unimportant  matter,  "  So  far,  I  think,  we 
have  succeeded  pretty  well.  Unless  Hood  decamps  to- 
night, to-morrow  Steadman  will  double  up  his  right, 
Wood  will  hold  his  centre,  Smith  and  Schofield  again 
strike  his  left,  while  the  cavalry  work  away  at  his  rear." 
Hood  took  up  a  new  position  in  the  night-time,  one 
evidently  chosen  long  ago,  and  prepared  for  just  such  an 
emergency  as  this.  It  was  two  miles  in  rear  of  his  first, 
while  his  lines  were  shortened  from  six  miles  to  three, 
and  at  first  glance  looked  impregnable.  But  Thomas, 
carrying  out  his  original  plan,  sent  Steadman  at  daylight 
on  the  rebel  riglit,  while  Wood  moved  over  the  abandon- 
ed works  of  the  enemy  on  his  centre.  They  had  orders, 
however,  only  to  feel  the  hostile  line,  till  Smith  and 
Schofield  on  the  left,  again  should  enact  over  the  scene  of 
the  day  before.  These  commanders,  however,  were  for- 
bidden to  move,  until  the  cavalry,  which  Thomas  had 
sent  far  around  to  the  rear,  could  be  heard  from.  Hood 
had  again  committed  the  mistake  that  he  did  in  Atlanta, 
when  he  sent  off  all  his  cavalry  to  cut  Sherman's  com- 
munications, leaving  that  commander  to  place  his  army 
where  his  own  would  be  effectually  destroyed.  He  pos- 
sessed a  fine  body  of  cavalry,  under  Forrest,  superior  in 
numbers  to  that  of  Thomas,  but  he  had  sent  it  down 
the  Cumberland  after  our  transports,  and  back  to  Mur- 
freesboro,  to  waste  its  energies  in  dashing  against  its 
strong  defences.  Thomas  was  aware  of  this,  and  hence 
had  no  fear  of  his  cavalry.  It  was  a  long  time,  however, 
before  our  cavalry  was  heard  from.  It  had  made  a  wide  de- 
tour to  prevent  the  movement  being  detected,  so  that  noon 
came  without  anything  of  importance  being  done.  There 
had  been  heavy  artillery  firing  all  the  forenoon,  and 
Hood  was  evidently  momentarily  expecting  an  attack. 


288  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

• 

Smith  and  ScKofield  chafed  under  the  inaction,  and  sent 
to  Thomas  for  permission  to  assault,  but  he  firmly 
refused.  The  short  winter's  day  wore  on,  and  night 
threatened  to  come  before  anything  was  accomplished. 
But  Thomas  remained  imperturbable  as  ever,  amid  all 
the  impatience  and  excitement  around  him.  At  length, 
about  four  o'clock,  a  prolonged  fire  of  rifles  and  car. 
bines,  that  swept  around  the  rebel  flank  and  crept 
up  along  Hood's  rear,  told  him  that  the  hour  had  come. 
His  blue  eye  flashed  with  sudden  inspiration,  and  turning  to 
his  aids,  he  said,  u  Now  tell  Generals  Schofield  and  Smith 
to  advance."  Away  like  the  wind  dashed  the  aids,  cross- 
ing fields  and  highways  in  their  fierce  passage,  but  before 
they  could  reach  the  impatient  generals,  they  were  already 
moving.  They,  too,  had  caught  the  meaning  of  the  fierce 
fire  along  the  rebel  flanks  and  rear,  and  had  heard  the 
Union  bugles  sounding  the  charge,  and  they  at  once 
ordered  a  general  assault.  With  leveled  bayonets  and 
high  ringing  cheers,  that  rolled  triumphantly  over  the 
field,  they  swept  in  one  awful  wave  on  the  rebel  works. 
Wood,  in  the  centre,  caught  up  the. shout  and  moved  for- 
ward, and  Steadman  on  the  extreme  left,  charged  home. 
In  a  moment,  for  three  miles,  the  whole  rebel  line  was  a 
vast  sheet  of  flame.  Tne  batteries  thundered,  shell 
screamed  through  the  air,  the  heights  trembled  under 
the  sudden  earthquake,  one  vast  sulphurous  cloud  wrap- 
ped the  contending  hosts,  and  for  half  an  hour  it  seemed 
as  if  the  infernal  pit  had  opened  there  along  the  rugged 
crests.  But  it  was  quickly  over — carried  away  by  the 
awful  rush,  the  rebel  army  seemejl  lifted  as  by  a  whirl- 
wind, and  borne  bodily  backward.  Throwing  away  every- 
thing that  could  impede  their  flight,  they  sped  in  wild 
confusion  arid  dismay  over  the  country.  One  great,  ter- 


THE    VICTOEY.  289 

rible  blow,  and  of  all  that  proud  host,  nothing  but  frag- 
ments remained.  Said  a  captured  brigadier-general,  in 
speaking  of  that  charge,  u  Why,  sir,  it  was  the  most  won- 
derful thing  I  ever  witnessed.  I  saw  your  men  coming 
and  held  my  fire — a  full  ^brigade,  too — until  they  were  in 
close  range,  could  almost  see  the  whites  of  their  eyes,  and 
then  poured  my  volley  right  into  their  faces.  I  supposed, 
of  course,  that  when  the  smoke  lifted  your  line  would  be 
broken  and  your  men  gone.  But  it  is  surprising,  sir,  it 
never  even  staggered  them.  Why,  they  did  not  even 
come  forward  on  a  run.  But  right  along,  cool  as  fate, 
your  line  swung  up  the  hill,  and  your  men  walked  right 
up  to  and  over  my  works  and  around  my  brigade  before 
we  knew  that  they  were  upon  us.  It  was  astonishing, 
sir,  such  fighting."  * 

Over  five  thousand  prisoners,  one  major-general,  three 
brigadiers,  and  more  than  two  hundred  commissioned 
officers  were  captured,  not  to  mention  the  killed  and 
wounded.  Forty  pieces  of  artillery  were  taken,  any 
quantity  of  small  arms,  battle-flags,  &c. 

Thus,  in  two  days,  Thomas  had  taken  some  eight  thou-. 
sand  prisoners,  and  between  fifty  and  sixty  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery. 

Night  coining  on,  closed  the  conflict,  and  our  army 
bivouacked  on  the  field  of  victory,  while  the  fugitive,  de- 
moralized rebel  host  fled  through  the  darkness  towards 
the  Tennessee.  Thomas  now  felt  the  want  of  a  fresh  di- 
vision of  cavalry — with  it  nothing  but  the  merest  debris 
of  the  hostile  army  would  have  got  off.  The  pursuit, 
however,  was  commenced  in  the  morning  and  pressed  with 
all  the  vigor  possible.  But  heavy  rains  setting  in,  made 
the  road  almost  impassable  to  artillery.  Horses  and  men 

*  Capt."  James  F.  Eusling,  A.  Q.  M. 


290  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE   H.    THOMAS. 

were  worn  dow*  in  the  effort  to  come  up  with  the  enemy, 
and  though  some  prisoners  were  picked  up,  a  second  bat- 
tle could  not  be  got  out  of  Hood,  and  he  at  length  suc- 
ceeded in  putting  the  t  Tennessee  between  him  and  his 
remorseless  pursuers. 

This  was  a  great  victory,  and  raised  Thomas  still  high- 
er in  public  estimation.  The  plan  of  the  battle  in  its  sim- 
plicity and  completeness,  and  the  accuracy  with  which  it 
was  carried  out,  reminds  one  of  the  action  at  Chattanooga, 
in  which  Bragg  was  driven  from  Missionary  Hidge. 
They  look  like  the  product  of  one  mind,  and  their  simi- 
larity tends  to  confirm  the  report  that  Thomas  had  ma- 
tured, before  Grant's  arrival,  the  very  plan  that  the  latter 
adopted  and  carried  out  so  triumphantly. 

Thomas  was  now  for  some  time  engaged  in  repairing 
the  roads  and  bridges  that  had  been  destroyed  by  Hood's 
invasion.  He  had  so  effectually  demolished  his  enemy, 
that  there  was  but  lit  Je  left  for  his  army  to  do,  and  a 
great  part  of  it  was  taken  from  him  to  operate  in  other 
fields.  Schofield's  corps  was  transferred  to  the  Atlantic 
coast,  to  co-operate  with  Sherman,  in  his  march  north 
from  Savannah ;  while  Steadman  was  sent  across  the 
Alleghanies  with  another  force  on  the  same  errand, 
and  hence  his  army,  though  he  was  not  with  it  in 
person,  was  on  the  fi^ld  where  the  closing  scenes  of 
the  rebellion  took  place.  He  is  still  retained  in  com- 
mand of  the  Tennessee  department,  employed  in  the 
delicate  business  of  reconstruction.  Severity  and  mild- 
ness are  so  admirably  mixed  in  all  his  measures,  that 
while  he  is  a  "  terror  to  evil  doers,"  he  is  loved  by 
all  true  loyal  men.  Too  elevated  to  act  from  passion 
himself,  he  will  permit  none  of  his  subordinates  to 
do  it. 


HIS   CHARACTER.  291 


HIS     CHARACTER. 

General  Thomas  is  a  person  of  dignified  presence,  six 
feet  high,  and  of  massive  frame.  His  features  are  some-! 
what  heavy,  and  give  no  indication  of  the  great  qualities 
he  possesses,  save  that  the.  large,  square  jaws  impress 
one  with  his  firmness.  His  manners  are  gentle  and  cour- 
teous to  all,  and  his  deep,  steady  blue  eyes  reveal  the 
truth,  tenderness,  and  probity  of  his  character.  Grave, 
but  not  stern,  their  benignant  expression  attracts  instead 
of  repelling  the  beholder.  One  cannot  look"  into  their 
depths  without  feeling  that  there  is  a  man,  sans  peur  sans 
reprocke.  Like  the  immortal  Washington,  his  military 
and  personal  record  is  without  a  blot.  Modest  and  re- 
tiring, his  merits  alone  have  pushed  him,  despite  himself, 
to  eminence.  Without  resentments  as  without  jealousy, 
he  has  no  wrongs  to  redress,  and  no  rivals  to  eclipse. 
His  mind,  like  his  body,  moves  deliberately,  methodi- 
cally —  and  he  thinks  twice  before  he  speaks,  and  then  in 
careful,  measured  language.  His  opinions  are  well 
weighed,  and  given  in  a  manner  that  carry  conviction 
with  them.  So  also  his  blows  are  carefully  planned,  but, 
when  they  fall,  descend  like  "  Thor's  hammer."  His 
mind  is  distinguished  'for  its  clearness  and  simplicity,  and 
he  never  seems  to  be  troubled  with  the  complications  that 
so  often  disturb  the  mental  operations  of  others.  The  com- 
mon soldiers  know  his  worth  as  a  counsellor,  and  he  is 
often  spoken  of  by  them  as  the  "  brains  of  the  army." 
With  none  of  that  easy,  offhand  familiarity  or  dashing 
way,  and  using  none  of  those  pleasant  artifices  which 
commanders  sometimes  employ  to  win  the  affections  of 
their  troops,  he  nevertheless  has  their  unbounded  lova 

He  does  not  awaken  such  enthusiasm,  as  men  like  Sherk- 
19 


292  MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 

dan  in  his  followers,  but  creates,  what  is  far  better,  a 
deep,  abiding  confidence  in  them,  not  only  of  his  military 
ability,  but  of  his  truth,  integrity,  and  goodness.  His 
soldiers  believe  in  him,  and  would  follow  him  to  the  end 
of  the  world.  He  is  not  to  them  the  dazzling  hero,  as 
Bonaparte  was  to  his  soldiers — he  is  more  like  a  father 
among  his  children,  and  "  Pap  George,"  "  Pap  Thomas," 
as  they  familiarly  call  him,  indicate  the  character  of  their 
feelings  towards  him.  Universally  beloved,  he  is  almost 
the  only  general  that  has  been  entrusted  with  separate 
command  in  this  war,  who  has  escaped  both  the  breath 
of  calumny  and  the  charge  of  incompetency.  He  has 
needed  no  defenders,  for  he  has  had  no  detractors.  It 
seems  almost  miraculous  that  he  should  have  passed 
through  such  a  troublous  four  years  with  not  a  com- 
plaint made  against  him.  Even  his  enemies,  when  suffer- 
ing under  the  terrible  punishment  he  knew  so  well  how 
to  inflict,  could  not -bring  a  "  railing  accusation  "  against 
him.  The  most  they  have  ever  said,  was  to  reproach 
him  for  his  loyalty.  Not  puffed  up  by  his  sudden  and 
great  renown,  he  wears  his  honors  meekly,  and  shuns 
those  public  ovations  which  are  the  delight  of  the  vain 
and  ambitious.  Never  asking  for  leave  of  absence,  he 
has  steadily  remained  on  the  field  of  duty,  living  in  the 
midst  of  his  army  until  his  work  was  done. 

His  whole  character  is  singularly  well  balanced,  so 
that  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  quality  predominates, 
except  it  be  that  which  seems  rat*her  to  be  the  whole 
than  part  of  the  man— firmness.  In  this  he  is  granite 
rock.  Immovable  as  a  cliff,  he  never  yet  has  been  driven 
from  the  field.  It  is  totally  unlike  that  obstinacy  which 
characterizes  some  men,  and  which  is  written  in  their 
very  features.  It  is  a  solid  formation,  the  existence  of 


HIS   CHARACTER.  293 

which  is  not  suspected  till  it  is  tested.  In  fact,  it  seems 
to  spring  into  being  and  grow  with  circumstances.  This 
was  exhibited  at  Chickamauga,  where  for  long  hours  he 
grandly  stood  on  that  wild,  tumultuous,  lost  field.  The 
sublime  tenacity  with  which  he  clung  to  his  position 
will  be  the  wonder  of  all  time,  and  he  never  will  lose  the 
title  won  there,  nobler  than  any  his  Government  can 
confer — "  The  Hock  of  Cliickamauga?  Superior  to- panic, 
he  is  a  total  stranger  to  that  infectious  fear  to  which 
every  man,  at  one  time  or  another,  seems  liable.  Self- 
poised,  the  wilder  the  wreck  around  him,  the  firmer  and 
calmer  he  stands.  With  the  changing  tide  of  battle  no 
change  comes  over  him,  but  that  of  higher  determination 
and  sublimer  self-devotion.  While  the  career  of  more 
brilliant  men  will  lose  its  lustre  with  time,  his  will  be- 
come steadily  brighter,  and  future  history  will  accord 
him  a  high  place  in  the  temple  of  military  fame. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT  HANCOCK. 

HIS  BIBTH — CENTERS  WEST  POINT — SENT  TO  THE  INDIAN  TERRITORY — HIS 
SERVICES  IN  MEXICO — EXPEDITION  TO  UTAH — SENT  TO  CALIFORNIA — 
RECALLED  AT  THE  BREAKING  OUT  OP  THE  WAR — MADE  BRIGADIER- 
GENERAL — GALLANT  CHARGE  AT  WILLIAMSBURG HIS  SERVICES  ON  THE 

PENINSULA  UNDER  M'CLELLAN — SERVES  UNDER  POPE — GALLANTRY  AT 
ANTIETAM — AT  FREDERICKSBURG — AT  CHANCELLORSVILLE  —  REPRESENTS 
MEADE  AT  GETTYSBURG — THE  BATTLE — IS  WOUNDED — UNDER  GRANT 
COMMANDS  THE  LEFT  WING  OF  THE  GRAND  ARMY — BATTLE  OF  THE  WIL- 
DERNESS— GALLANT  CHARGE  AT  SPOTTSYLVANIA — AT  NORTH  ANNA — BE- 
FORE PETERSBURG — DEFEATED  AT  HATCHER'S  RUN — RESIGNS  HIS  COM- 
MAND— APPOINTED  TO  RAISE  A  CORPS  OF  VETERANS — COMMANDS  IN  THE 
8HENANDOAH  VALLEY — HIS  CHARACTER. 

THE  name  of  the  subject  of  the  following  sketch  sug- 
gests a  military  career,  and  may  have  had  more  to  do 
than  we  know  of  in  fixing  the  choice  of  his  profession. 
Born  in  Montgomery  county,  Pennsylvania,  February 
14th,  1824,  he  early  showed  his  predilection  for  the  army, 
for  he  entered  West  Point  when  a  mere  lad,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1844,  but  twenty  years  of  age.  He  was  commis- 
sioned brevet  second  lieutenant  in  the  Sixth  Infantry,  and 
stationed  in  the  Indian  territory.  But  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Mexican  war,  his  regiment  was  withdrawn  to 
form  a  part  of  the  army  of  General  Scott,  and  he  went 
through  the  brilliant  campaign  that  followed,  with  dis- 
tinction. He  was  still  of  an  age  when  many  of  the  cadets 


HIS   EARLY   SERVICES.  295 

are  at  West  Point,  yet  for  his  gallantry  at  Churubusco  he 
was  bre vetted  first  lieutenant,  and  on  reaching  Mexico, 
was  made  quarter-master  of  his  regiment. 

Returning  home  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  ap- 
pointed adjutant,  arid  stationed  in  Missouri.  This  was  in 
1849.  He  remained  here  six  years,  when  he  was  made 
captain  in  the  quarter-master's  department,  and  ordered 
to  Florida,  and  served  during  the  campaign  of  1855 
against  the  Seminoles. 

Afterwards  he  was  sent  to  Kansas,  and  joined  the  ex- 
pedition to  Utah,  under  General  Harney,  but  on  the 
abandonment  of  that,  he  was  ordered  to  Fort  Bridger  to 
join  the  Sixth  Infantry,  as  quarter-master,  and  accompany 
it  across  the  country  to  Benicia,  California.  He  was 
now  stationed  at  Los  Angeles,  where  the  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion  found  him.  In  looking  around  for  officers 
in  the  regular  service  to  occupy  important  positions  in  the 
mighty  volunteer  army  we  were  raising,  the  attention  of 
the  War  Department  was  called  to  Hancock,  now  ap- 
proaching his  fortieth  year,  as  one  who  could  be  of  vastly 
more  service  here,  in  the  terrible  struggle  before  us,  than 
out  in  that  far-off  region,  and  he  was  ordered  to  report  at 
Washington.  Reaching  the  capital,  he  was,  in  September, 
appointed  brigadier-general  of  volunteers  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

At  the  battle  of  Williamsburg  which  followed  the 
evacuation  of  Yorktown,  he  was  ordered  by  General 
Smith  to  take  his  brigade  across  a  dam  on  our  right  and 
occupy  some  redoubts  on  the  left  of  the  enemy's  line.  He 
at  once  marched  it  across  the  dam,  took  possession  of  the 
first  redoubt,  and  soon  after,  finding  the  second  one  va- 
cated, occupied  that  also,  and  sent  back  for  reinforcements 
so  that  he  might  push  on  still  further,  and  take  a  third, 


296  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD    SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

which  commanded  the  plain  that  stretched  between  him 
and  Fort  Magruder,  and  thus  would  enable  him  to  direct 
his  fire  on  the  rear  of  the  troops  that  were  pressing  so 
heavily  Hooker  and  Kearney.  The  rebel  commander, 
seeing  the  threatening  attitude  xof  Hancock,  sent  a  strong 
force  against  him,  and  as  the  latter  could  not,  with  his 
single  brigade,  hold  his  position,  and  at  the  same  time 
leave  a  sufficient  force  to  protect  his  rear,  or  indeed  secure 
his  flank,  he  hurried  off  another  staff  officer  for  reinforce- 
ments. Smith  was  directed  to  take  forward  his  division, 
but  before  he  could  start  the  order  was  countermanded. 
But  the  urgency  of  Hancock  now  becoming  every  mo- 
ment more  apparent  and  his  messages  more  pressing, 
Smith  was  again  ordered  to  proceed  with  all  possible  dis- 
patch to  his  aid.  Before  his  columns,  however,  were 
fairly  in  motion,  Sumner  again  countermanded  the  order, 
as  he  was  afraid  to  weaken  his  centre.  Hancock,  fully 
aware  that  if  he  could  occupy  the  position  he  wished, 
victory  was  certain,  would  not  be  denied,  and  implored 
Sumner  to  give  him  reinforcements.  The  latter,  unwilling 
to  comply,  at  length  sent  him  word  to  fall  back  to  his 
first  position,  as  he  could  not  spare  him  any  troops.  This 
he  would  not  do  until  it  became  inevitable,  besides  it  was 
a  perilous  undertaking  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy. 
The  latter  now  came  boldly  on  in  overwhelming  force, 
and  Hancock  opened  on  them  with  a  fierce  fire  of  artillery. 
As  McClellan's  ear  caught  the  sound  of  the  rapid  explo- 
sions, he  immediately  and  peremptorily  ordered  Smith 
to  hasten  thither  with  his  two  remaining  brigades.  Away 
they  dashed  on  the  double-quick,  but  before  they  could 
reach  Hancock  he  had  won  the  victory  alone.  Feigning 
to  retreat,  he  fell  slowly  back  in  line  of  battle.  The 
enemy,  thinking  it  a  retreat  in  earnest,  and  determined 


A   GALLANT    CHARGE.  297 

to.  push  it  into  a  rout,  dashed  forward,  cheering  and 
firing  as  they  came.  Hancock  sat  on  his  horse,  watching 
every  movement,  till  he  saw  that  the  proper  time  had 
arrived,  when  the  command  "  halt"  passed  down  the  line. 
The  ranks  closed  up  firmly  and  steadily,  and  the  brave 
men  stood  like  a  wall  along  the  rising  slope,  gazing  stern- 
ly on  the  advancing  line.  On  came  the  enemy,  elated 
with  confidence,  till  near  the  top,  and  within  forty  yards 
of  Hancock  "  Fire,"  ran  along  the  unfaltering  ranks, 
and  a  swift,  deadly  volley  swept  the  whole  rebel  line. 
Then  rising  on  his  stirrups,  and  lifting  his  sword  aloft,  he 
shouted,  "charge  bayonet."  With  levelled  pieces  and 
leaning  forms  and  one  deep  shout  of  defiance,  those 
2,500  men  threw  themselves  with  solid  front  down  the 
slope.  As  the  rebels  saw  the  gleaming  line  come  driving 
swiftly  down  they  halted  in  amazement.  It  was  a  new 
sight  in  the  war,  and  the  raw  volunteers  as  they  caught 
the  determined  expression  of  that  immortal  brigade,  and 
the  sheen  of  its  steel,  broke  and  fled  in  wild  dismay  over 
the  field.  $;  . 

The  rebel  position  being  completely  turned  by  this 
victory,  it  was  abandoned  that  night.  Bight  gallantly 
was  it  done,  and  showed  what  kind  of  training  Hancock's 
brigade  had  been  subjected  to.  McClellan  declared  it 
"  brilliant  in  the  extreme."  Scores  of  such  charges  have 
taken  place  since,  but  this  was  the  first.  It  was  thought 
that  untried  volunteers  could  not  be  brought  up  to  it,  and 
the  gallant  example  was  the  talk  of  the  army  and  the 
nation,  and  raised  a  spirit  of  emulation  among  the  troops, 
that  was  worth  more  to  them  than  a  whole  campaign. 

Previous  to  this,  Hancock's  name  was  scarcely  known 
out  of  the  army,  but  from  this  time  to  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  occupied  a  large  space  in  the  public  attention. 


298  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD   SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

« 

Afterwards,  at  the  battles  of  Fair  Oaks,  Games'  Mill, 
Savage  Station,  Nelson's  Farm  or  Glen  dale,  and  Malvern 
Hill,  he  fought  side  by  side  with  Sedgewick,  and  main- 
tained the  renown  he  had  so  suddenly  won  at  Williams- 
burg.  At  Gaines1  Mill,  his  and  Burns'  brigade,  it  is 
said,  held  the  most  exposed  part  of  the  lines.  Han- 
cock, especially,  u  had  taken  a  critical  position  in  front  of 
his  intrenchments  with  a  strong  battery.  It  was  alto- 
gether probable  the  enemy  would  attempt  to  drive  him 
back.  The  afternoon  was  wearing  away  wearily  without 
any  serious  demonstrations,  and  we  had  begun  to  sus- 
pect the  enemy  of  some  sinister  design  in  remaining  so 
undemonstrative.  It  was  probably  about  four  or  five 
o'clock,  however,  when,  without  premonition,  a  strong 
force  pressed  heavily  upon  General  Burns'  picket  line. 
He  sent  word  instantly  to  Hancock  to  prepare  for  action. 
The  latter  was  vigilant ;  but  he  had  hardly  received  the 
message  before  a  rebel  battery  of  heavy  guns  opened  a 
furious  storm  of*  shell  upon  him.  A  moment  later,  a 
strong  brigade  ^pounced  upon  his  pickets,  pressed  them 
irresistibly  back,  and  dashed  at  his  battery.  ,.-...,-  .  . 
Our  picket  reserves,  however,  held  their  ground  manfully, 
and  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  our  lads  yelling  triumph- 
antly. Hancock  was  victorious,  after  a  bitter  fight,  in 
which  two  Georgia  regiments  were  cut  to  pieces.  Among 
the  prisoners  captured  by  him  was  one  of  the  smartest 
and  most  mischievous  of  Southern  politicians — Colonel 
J.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  of  the  First  Georgia  Regiment,  once 
member  of  Congress." 

On  the  recall  of  the  army  from  the  peninsula  to  assist 
Pope,  he  accompanied  his  brigade  to  the  front,  and  par- 
ticipated in  that  disastrous  campaign. 

In  the  subsequent  campaign,  under  McClellan,  which 


AT   ANTIETAM.  299 

virtually  closed  with  the  battle  of  Antietam,  he  again 
displayed  those  great  qualities  which  showed  his  claims  to 
a  higher  command. 

Belonging  to  Richardson's  division  of  Sumner's  corps, 
which  came  to  the  help  of  Hooker,  just  as  he  was  borne 
from  the  field,  he  fought  as  he  never  fought  before.  Amid 
the  terrible  carnage  Richardson  went  down,  and  Hancock 
succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  division,  which  he 
handled  with  masterly  skill.  He  immediately  sent  off  an 
urgent  request  for  more  artillery,  as  that  of  the  enemy 
vastly  outnumbered  his,  and  was  making  sad  havoc  in 
his  ranks.  But  none  could  be  given  him.  At  this  time 
he  was  required  to  hold  such  a  wide  stretch  of  country, 
that  he  could  form  but  one  line  of  battle,  which  at  the 
same  time  was  pushed  so  far  to  the  front,  that  it  was  en- 
filaded by  the  rebel  batteries.  Still,  he  would  not  retire, 
but  held  his  men  firmly  under  the  fire,  although  the  ranks 
melted  away  with  fearful  rapidity.  It  was  a  trying  po- 
sition; and  he  mentally  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  for  two  or  three 
batteries ! "  But  they  could  not  be  had.  Irritated  at 
this  compulsory  inaction,  and  the  slaughter  of  his  brave 
men,  Hancock  could  not  conceal  the  excitement  under 
which  he  labored.  At  length,  seeing  the  rebels  moving 
down  on  his  left,  he  sent  off  to  Franklin,  begging  him 
earnestly  for  a  single  battery.  It  was  sent  him,  and  by 
its  help  the  enemy  was  driven  back.  The  terrible  ordeal 
through  which  he  passed  this  day,  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact,  that  of  the  loss  of  12,460  on  this  part  of  the 
field,  5,200  fell  in  Sumner's  corps  alone. 

We  cannot  follow  him  in  the  long  marches,  and  the 
many  duties  he  performed  in  the  succeeding  months,  nor 
describe  his  bearing  and  conduct  in  the  assault,  by  Burn- 
side,  on  the  heights  of  "Fredericksburg.  Sumner's  corps 


300  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD   SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

commanded  the  right  wing,  and  suffered  horribly  in  front 
of  the  earthworks  on  the  slope.  Seeing  what  terrible 
work  was  before  them,  Hancock  advised  the  officers  of  the 
celebrated  Irish  Brigade,  under  Meagher,  to  dismount, 
and  move  on  foot  to  the  assault.  There  was  no  room  for 
manoeuvring  here,  no  chance  for  the  display  of  general- 
ship, all  he  could  do  was  to  stand  amid  the  awful  storm, 
and  make  his  men  stand  too.  This  he  did,  till  the  dead 
and  wounded  of  his  division  seemed  to  outnumber  the 
living.  Meagher's  brigade,  that  fought  directly  under 
his  eye,  had  only  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  its  number 
left  at  the  close  of  that  disastrous  day. 

Hancock,  like  his  chief,  Sumner,  knew  beforehand 
that  it  was  a  mad  attempt  to  take  these  heights  by  a  di- 
rect assault;  but,  like  him,  did  a  soldier's  duty,  and  freely 
exposed  his  own  life,  and  saw  his  brave  soldiers  slaugh- 
tered uselessly,  in  obedience  to  orders. 

On  the  appointment  of  Hooker  to  the  chief  command, 
the  gallant,  bluff  old  Sumner  resigned;  but  Hancock, 
retaining  his  former  position  in  the  army,  bore  his  part  in 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Chancellorsville. 

In  the  following  summer,  when  Meade  superseded 
Hooker,  on  the  invasion  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
by  Lee,  Hancock  at  once  assumed  the  important  position 
to  which  his  military  ability  entitled  him,  for  Meade 
knew  his  worth,  and  reposed  great  confidence  in  him. 

He  was  at  this  time  in  command  of  the  Second 
Corps.  When  the  preliminary  action  under  Reynolds, 
which  resulted  in  his  death,  and  which  brought  on  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  was  reported  to  Meade,  far  back  in 
the  rear,  he  despatched,  as  he  says,  "  General  Hancock 
to  represent  me  on  the  fidd?  No  higher  compliment 
could  have  been  paid  him.  But  this  was  not  all;  he  told 


AT  GETTYSBURG.  301 

him  if  he  discovered  a  good  position  for  fighting  a  bat- 
tle to  select  it.  Hancock  at  once  hurried  to  the  field,  and 
found  Howard,  who  had  succeeded  Reynolds,  fallen  back 
on  Cemetery  Hill.  In  conjunction  with  him,  he  decided 
that  that  was  the  very  spot  on  which  to  decide  the  fate  of 
the  capital ;  and  so  reported  to  Meade.  The  latter  says, 
"  These  reports  being  favorable,  I  determined  to  give  bat- 
tle at  this  point,  and  early  in  the  evening  first  issued  or- 
ders to  all  corps  to  concentrate  at  Gettysburg.'1'1  Thus  it  is 
seen,  on  General  Meade's  testimony,  that  Hancock,  whom 
he  "despatched  to  represent  him  on  the  field"  with  How- 
ard, really  fixed  the  battle-field  which  gave  us  the  vic- 
tory. Had  the  rebels  occupied  it  first,  and  forced  us  to 
the  attack,  from  which  they  recoiled,  bleeding  and  broken, 
the  result  would  have  been  totally  different.  Under  the 
circumstances — when  a  single  battle  would  decide  the  fate 
of  the  national  capital,  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and, 
perhaps,  of  the  whole  North,  it  was  not  a  slight  responsi- 
bility which  Meade  put  on  Hancock.  Had  the  latter  erred 
in  judgment,  or  the  result  proved  that  he  had  made  a  vital 
mistake,  his  reputation  would  have  been  ruined.  But 
his  military  eye  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  fortunes  of  war, 
or  Providence,  had  given  them  the  very  position  they 
wanted.  \ 

He  commanded  the  left  centre  on  the  first  day,  and 
stood  next  to  Howard  on  Cemetery  Hill.  All  that  day 
he  not  only  held  his  ground,  but  sent  reinforcements  to 
the  Third  Corps.  The  next  day,  he  maintained  the  same 
position  till  one  o1  clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  Lee,  after 
a  lull  in  the  battle,  opened  with  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  guns,  playing  upon  the  centre  and  left.  For  more 
than  two  hours  Hancock  stood  and  took  this  terrible 
storm,  beating  with  indescribable  fury  upon  his  ranks. 


302  MAJOR-GENERAL*WINFIELD    SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

Calm  and  composed,  he  let  the  shot  and  shell  scream,  and 
rush,  and  burst  around  him;  his  eyes  steadily  fixed  on 
the  enemy's  lines,  knowing  full  well  that  this  was  only 
the  prelude  to  a  still  more  terrible  storm.  A  little  after 
three  it  came.  Dark  masses  of  infantry  were  seen  mov- 
ing out  on  the  field,  as  the  smoke  of  battle,  lifting  and 
drifting  to  the  eastward,  revealed  them  to  view.  Full 
forty-five  thousand  strong,  and  three  columns  deep,  all 
moving  at  the  quick-step,  driving  like  a  swift  cloud-shadow 
over  the  field,  they  came  in  magnificent  array,  straight  on 
Hancock.  He  saw  that  it  was  no  common  shock  he  was  to 
meet,  and  his  artillery  at  once  opened  furiously  all  along 
his  line.  As  the  mighty  columns  drew  near,  the  musketry, 
in  one  solid  sheet  of  flame,  swept  the  dense  formations. 
The  ranks  of  living  men  went  down  like  grain  in  front 
of  the  reaper,  but  the  columns  from  behind  still  pressed 
onward  to  swell  the  harvest  of  death.  Before  this  awful 
devastating  fire  the  ranks  at  length  began  to  waver,  when 
the  officers  galloped  along  the  undulating  lines  with 
flashing  swords,  and  oaths,  and  appeals,  gallantly  braving 
death  in  the  vain  attempt  to  stem  that  fiery  flood. 
Hancock  saw  that  this  determined  advance  was  telling  on 
the  courage  of  his  troops,  and  he  too  rode  along  the  lines, 
bracing  them  up  by  his  presence  and  voice. 

But  the  shouting  host  only  moved  forward  to  choke 
with  more  victims  the  crater  of  that  volcano,  and  the 
great  decisive  charge,  on  which  everything  rested,  was  at 
last  broken.  Amid  the  cheers  that  rolled  along  our  line 
over  the  victory,  Hancock  was  carried  bleeding  from  the 
field.  A  bullet  had  pierced  his  thigh,  and  with  Gibbon 
also  wounded,  he  lay  next  day  helpless  and  suffering, 
mourning  that  he  could  not  be  with  his  gallant  corps  to 
share  with  them  the  danger  of  the  conflict.  But  only 


IN    THE   RICHMOND   CAMPAIGN.  303 

occasional  explosions  of  artillery  met  his  ear,  telling  him 
that  the  battle  was  not  renewed.  On  the  second  morn- 
ing, as  he  lay  weak  and  pale,  the  news  was  brought  him 
that  the  enemy  was  in  full  retreat. 

Hancock  was  now  for  a  long  time  unfit  for  duty,  but 
he  could  not  move  among  the  people  without  receiving 
testimonials  of  their  love  and  admiration. 

The  next  spring,  when  Grant,  as  General-in-Chief^  be- 
gan his  great  campaign  against  Richmond,  Hancock  was 
assigned  command  of  the  left  wing  of  his  grand  army. 
He  was  not  yet  wholly  recovered  from  his  wound,  and 
his  friends  and  admirers  in  New  York,  fearing  that  he 
could  not  keep  the  saddle,  at  least  all  the  time,  presented 
him  with  a  magnificent  barouche,  so  that  he  could  travel 
with  comfort  at  the  head  of  his  old  Second  Corps.  He, 
however,  did  not  use  it,  preferring  in  its  stead  an  army 
ambulance. 

When  Grant  in  his  onward  movement  crossed  the 
Eapidan,  Hancock,  crossing  at  Ely's  Ford,  led  the  ad- 
vance for  the  centre,  and  with  Sedgewick  on  the  right, 
received  the  first  rebel  attack.  To  say  that  he  bore  him- 
self magnificently  in  this  fight,  would  be  only  to  read 
over  again  the  record  of  his  life.  Desperately  pressed  by 
overwhelming  numbers  suddenly  concentrated  against 
him,  he  was  in  danger  of  being  borne  away.  Hastening 
to  the  front,  he  rallied  his  men,  and  in  doing  so  received 
a  second  wound,  though  in  this  case  a  slight  one.  Says 
an  officer :  "  solid  masses  of  the  enemy,  line  after  line,  were 
hurled  upon  him ;  but  they  were  met  and  repulsed." 
The  ground  in  his  front  was  fought  over  four  or  five 
times. 

When  Lee  retreated  to  Spottsylvania  Court  House, 
Hancock,  crossing  the  Po  Creek  near  the  place,  seized 


804  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD   SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

the  Block  House  road,  and  threw  up  a  double  line  of 
breastworks,  working  all  night  to  finish  them.  "It  was 
a  very  pretty  sight.  The  lanterns  of  the  workmen  hang- 
ing to  the  blossoming  cherry  trees,  and  picturesque  groups 
of  soldiers  digging  and  erecting  the  works,  while  batteries 
stood  harnessed  up,  their  cannoniers  lying  on  the  ground 
around  the  carriages  in  wait  for  any  emergency. " 

He  afterward  crossed  the  Po  river,  and  took  up  his 
position  in  front  of  the  enemy's  intrenchments.  Here  on 
the  12th  of  May,  he  made  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and 
successful  assaults  of  the  war.  The  attacking  columns 

o 

were  formed  before  it  was  full  daylight,  and  just  in  the 
grey  of  the  dawn  moved  swiftly  and  without  firing  a  shot 
straight  on  the  ramparts,  at  whose  base  stretched  a  deep, 
wide  ditch.  The  enemy  never  dreaming  of  such  a  bold 
movement,  saw  before  they  were  aware  of  it,  the  soldiers 
pouring  like  an  inundation  over  the  works.  Rolled  back 
by  the  sudden  and  terrific  onset,  they  retreated,  fighting, 
for  a  mile.  Made  aware  of  the  frightful  disaster  that  had 
overtaken,  them,  the  rebel  generals  hurried  up  supports,  and 
reforming  the  lines  advanced  with  the  determination  to 
retake  the  important  position.  Five  times  did  Lee  hurl 
his  army  upon  it  and  as  often  was  driven  back.  The  battle 
raged  here  all  day  with  terrific  fury,  and  the  ground  was 
literally  heaped  with  the  dead.  So  determined  were  the 
onsets  and  so  close  the  death-grapple,  that  the  rebel 
colors  and  our  own  would  at  times  be  planted  on  the 
opposite  sides  of  the  same  works,  "the  men  fighting 
across  the  parapet." 

For  fourteen  hours  the  battle  raged,  and  when  it  closed, 
the  torn  and  trampled  earth  presented  a  scene  of  horror 
that  baffles  description.  Says  one  writing  from  the  spot : 
"The  angle  of  the  works  at  which  Hancock  entered,  and 


THE    REBEL   DEAD.  305 

for  the  possession  of  which  the  savage  fight  of  the  day 
was  made,  is  a  perfect  Golgotha.  In  this  angle  of  death 
the  dead  and  wounded  rebels  lie,  this  morning,  literally 
in  piles — men  in  the  agonies  of  death  groaning  beneath 
the  dead  bodies  of  their  comrade's.  On  an  area  of  a  few 
acres  in  the  rear  of  their  position,  lie  not  less  than  a 
thousand  rebel  corpses,  many  literally  torn  to  shreds  by 
hundreds  of  balls,  and  several  with  bayonet  thrusts  through 
and  through  their  bodies,  pierced  on  the  very  margins  of 
the  parapet,  which,  they  were  determined  to  retake  or 
perish  in  the  attempt.  The  one  exclamation  of  every 
man  who  looks  on  the  spectacle  is,  '  God  forbid  that  I 
should  ever  gaze  upon  such  a  sight  again.' v 

The  next  morning,  a  little  after  midnight,  the  rebels 
made  a  furious  attack  again  on  the  position,  hoping  in  the 
darkness  to  surprise  Hancock's  wearied  troops,  but  after 
three  hours'  desperate  fighting,  were  again  repulsed.  It 
is  said  that  Hancock  never  appeared  better  than  in  this 
fight.  The  lofty  spirit  of  a  knight  of  the  olden  time 
beamed  in  his  handsome  countenance,  and  was  imparted 
to  his  enthusiastic  troops. 

He  captured,  in  this  most  brilliant  dash  of  the  war, 
an  entire  division?  four  thousand  strong,  and  thirty  guns. 

Hancock  knew  one  of  the  rebel  generals  captured, 
but  happening  first  to  meet  Johnson,  whom  he  did  not 
know,  like  a  preux  chevalier  as  he  is,  he  advanced  and 
gave  him  his  hand.  Johnson  burst  into  tears,  exclaiming* 
that  he  would  have  preferred  death  to  captivity.  Stuart  he 
knew,  and  advanced  with  all  the  frankness  and  generosity 
of  his  great  heart,  with  his  hand  extended,  saying,  in 
tones  least  calculated  to  give  him  pain,  and  to  put  him  at 
his  ease,  "  How  are  you,  Stuart."  The  latter,  however, 
mortified  and  stung  by  his  disgrace,  drew  himself  up, 


306  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD   SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

with  true  Southern  hauteur,  and,  withdrawing  his  hand, 
sullenly  replied,  "I  am  General  Stuart,  of  the  Confeder- 
ate army,  and  under  present  circumstances  I  decline  to 
take  your  hand."  Hancock,  instead  of  taking  offence  at 
this,  and  making  the  captive  feel  his  position,  as  he  had 
the  power  to  do,  only  smiled,  and  replied,  "  And  under 
any  other  circumstances,  general,  I  should  have  de- 
clined it."  Hancock,  though  a  magnanimous  man,  still 
knows  how  to  rebuke  an  insolent  enemy.  A  keener,  bet- 
ter repartee  cannot  be  found  than  this.  It  at  the  same 
time  asserts,  and  yet  solely  by  implication,  his  own  per- 
sonal and  relative  superiority,  and  rebukes,  in  the  same 
way,  Stuart's  false  assumption  of  it,  and  ridiculous  at- 
tempt to  escape  from  the  unpleasantness  of  his  position. 
When  Grant  found  that  he  could  not  take  the  strong  po- 
sition of  the  enemy  here  by  a  direct  attack,  he  determined 
to  flank ;  and,  on  the  18th,  ordered  Hancock  and  Wright 
to  attack  the  rebel  left,  as  though  he  were  about  to  carry 
the  entrenchments  on  that  extremity.  The  assault  was 
kept  up  till  we  lost  1,200  men,  and  then  the  columns 
were  withdrawn.  At  night,  Torbert's  cavalry  moved  off 
ten  miles  east  of  Spottsylvania,  on  the  Fredericksburg 
railroad,  to  clear  the  contemplated  flank  movement.  On 
the  20th,  Hancock,  with  the  Second  Corps,  followed  the 
cavalry,  and  reached  Milford  bridge,  only  forty  miles  from 
Richmond.  On  the  23d,  he  attacked  the  enemy,  cap- 
tured the  fort  at  Taylor's  bridge,  and  all  this  and  the  next 
day  was  almost  constantly  engaged.  Again  and  again, 
the  rebels  attempted  to  retake  the  bridge  which  he  had 
stormed,  but  were  as  often  repulsed.  What  he  once  laid 
his  strong  grasp  on,  it  was  hard  to  wrest  away  again. 
When  Grant,  finding  the  enemy  too  strongly  entrenched 
here  to  be  assailed  successfully,  determined  on  another 


HIS   RESIGNATION.  307 

flank  movement  across  the  Pamunkey,  Hancock  brought 
up  the  rear. 

In  all  the  movements  and  fighting  that  followed,  un- 
til the  army  was  safely  across  the  James  river,  Hancock 
continued  to  bear  an  important  part.  His  corps  could 
always  be  relied  upon  when  any  hard  work  was  to  be 
done.  With  Baldy  Smith,  he  carried  the  outer  works  of 
Petersburg. 

When,  on  the  22d  of  June,  the  Second  Corps  was  re- 
pulsed in  an  advance  upon  the  town,  Hancock  was  ab- 
sent, not  being  able  to  keep  the  field,  on  account  of  his 
old  wound.  Not  yet  thoroughly  healed  when  Grant  be- 
gan his  great  campaign,  it  had  grown  worse  in  the  terri- 
ble strain  to  which  his  system  had  been  subjected  for  the 
last  two  months,  and  it  became  evident  that  he  must 
have  rest,  or  be  permanently  disabled. 

A  long  period  of  comparative  idleness  now  followed; 
but  in  the  last  of  October,  an  attempt  was  made  to  cross 
Hatcher's  Run  by  the  Second  Corps;  it  met  with  a  partial 
reverse,  and  lost  some  of  its  guns  and  men,  and  but  for 
the  great  tactical  skill  and  energy  of  Hancock,  would 
have  been  in  all  probability  routed.  But  he,  with  great 
promptness  and  audacity,  checked  the  momentary  suc- 
cess, recovering  a  part  of  his  guns  and  prisoners. 

This  ended  Hancock's  fighting  for  the  rest  of  the  war. 
In  November,  he  was  relieved  from  the  command  of  the 
Second  Corps,  at  his  own  request,  and  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  new  "Veteran  First  Corps,"  which  was 
being  organized,  with  headquarters  at  Washington. 
Recruiting  stations  were  opened  everywhere,  and  soldiers 
who  had  served  their  time  out,  flocked  to  enlist  under  the 
banner  of  this  favorite  commander.  Wherever  he  went 
he  was  received  with  acclamations,  and  the  nation  de- 

20 


308  MAJOR-GENERAL   WINFIELD   SCOTT   HANCOCK. 

lighted  to  do  him  honor.  His  stirring  appeals  were  never 
in  vain,  and  great  things  were  expected  of  this  Veteran 
Corps  when  it  once  took  the  field. 

After  Sheridan,  in  his  great  raid  to  the  James  river, 
below  Lynchburg,  and  across  the  country  to  the  White 
House,  finally  joined  Grant,  to  remain  with  him,  Han- 
cock was  put  in  command  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley^ 
where  he  remained  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  is  now 
in  command  of  the  Middle  Department  of  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Atlantic. 

General  Hancock  is  of  a  fine  personal  appearance, 
and  would  anywhere  in  a  crowd  be  picked  out  by  a 
stranger,  as  a  remarkable  man.  His  lofty,  chivalric  spirit 
finds  expression  in  his  noble  countenance,  and  gives  ad- 
ditional interest  to  his  well-formed  features.  His  whole 
bearing  is  martial,  and  shows  that  by  nature  he  was 
formed  for  the  profession  which  he  adorns.  Ever  ready 
for  battle,  and  always  at  home  in  its  uproar  and  perilous 
chances,  he,  nevertheless,  is  prudent  and  cautious  in  his 
movements.  With  great  tactical  skill  on  the  field,  and 
prudence  in  the  management  of  his  troops,  yet  his  as- 
saults are  made  with  all  the  abandon  and  apparent  reck- 
lessness of  desperation.  He  is  the  impersonation  of  a 
hero  to  his  troops,  and  they  are  as  proud  of  his  fame  as 
of  their  own  victories. 

His  natural  character  is  not  wholly  of  the  American 
type;  but  seems  to  belong  more  to  the  chivalric  ages. 
Grand,  yet  courteous,  he  is  known  throughout  the  army 
as  the  soul  of  honor.  He  is  too  knightly  not  to  admire  a 
brave  enemy,  and  has  none  of  that  bitter,  revengeful  spirit 
which  unsuccessful  officers  in  the  field  regard  as  air  evi- 
dence of  their  bravery.  He  could  not  strike  a  fallen  foe. 
It  is  curious  to  see  what  a  different  spirit  exists  in  those 


HIS   CHARACTER.  309 

heroic  men  who  have  won  our  victories,  such  as  Grant, 
Sherman,  McPherson,  and  Hancock,  and  many  others 
that  might  be  named,  and  the  whole  race  of  political 
warriors. 

Like  Sedgewick — by  whose  side  he  has  often  fought 
— and  Thomas  and  McPherson,  Hancock  seems  to  have 
no  enemies,  and  to  have  passed  through  disasters  and 
victories  alike,  with  no  spot  on  his  name.  There  must  be 
some  extraordinary  combination  of  qualities  in  such  men 
when  they  can  pass  through  scenes  that  throw  the  nation 
into  paroxysms  of  rage  and  mortification,  and  yet  never 
come  within  the  scope  of  its  blind  passion.  Striking  out 
wildly,  as  it  does  in  moments  of  defeat  and  disgrace,  and 
hitting  innocent  and  guilty  alike,  it  seems  miraculous 
that  none  of  the  blows  should  light  upon  their  heads. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HUGH  JTTDSON  KILPATRICK. 

HI8  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  LIFE — ENTERS  "WEST  POINT — WHIPS  A  BULLY- 
LEAVES  FOR  THE  ARMY  BEFORE  HE  COMPLETES  HIS  COURSE — HIS  MAB- 
BIAGE — BECOMES  AN  OFFICER  EN  DURYEA'S  ZOUAVES — WOUNDED  AT  BIO 
BETHEL — MADE  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  IN  THE  HARRIS  LIGHT  CAVALRY — 
SEIZES  FALMOUTH — CHASE  AFTER  THE  REBEL  COMMANDER— GALLANT 
OPERATIONS  AROUND  FREDERICKSBURG HIS  SERVICES  IN  POPE'S  CAM- 
PAIGN— UNDER  HOOKER — RAID  ON  RICHMOND — HIS  FIGHTS  PREVIOUS  TO 
THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG,  AND  IN  IT — DARING  PURSUIT  OF  LEE — A 

FEARFUL  NIGHT  MARCH — SCENE  AT   SMITHBURG FIGHT  AT  HAGERSTOWN 

— MARCH  TO  WILLIAMSPORT — FIGHT  AT — CHARGE  AT  FALLING  WATERS — 
SUMMING  UP  OF  HIS  ACHIEVEMENTS — OBTAINS  A  FURLOUGH — OPERATIONS 
ON  THE  RAPIDAN  AND  RAPPAHANNOCK,  UNDER  MEADE — GALLANT  AT- 
TEMPT TO  RELEASE  THE  PRISONERS  IN  RICHMOND — ENTERS  THE  OUT- 
WORKS OF  THE  REBEL  CAPITAL — SENT  WEST  TO  JOIN  SHERMAN — 18 
WOUNDED  AT  RESACA  AND  RETURNS  HOME — AGAIN  JOINS  THE  ARMY  BE- 
FORE ATLANTA — SENT  TO  CUT  THE  RAILROADS — COMMANDS  THE  CAVALRY 
EN  THE  GEORGIA  CAMPAIGN — ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  SERVICES — COMPLIMENTED 
BY  SHERMAN — CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CAROLENAS — THREATENS  AUGUSTA — HIS 
SURPRISE  BY  HAMPTON  AND  NARROW  ESCAPE — RETALIATION  ON  THE 
ENEMY — AVERYSRORO — HIS  GALLANTRY  AT  BENTONVILLE — HIS  ADDRESS 
TO  HIS  TROOPS — HIS  CHARACTER. 

IT  is  notorious  that  war  makes  and  unmakes  reputa- 
tions rapidly.  A  struggle  of  a  few  hours  may  give  a 
man  a  name  that  is  mentioned  with  honor  over  the  civi- 
lized world,  or  inflict  on  him  an  equally  wide  but  painful 
celebrity.  But  we  believe  that  neither  our  history  nor 
that  of  any  other  nation  furnishes  an  instance  of  a  mere 
cadet,  vaulting  almost  at  a  bound  to  the  highest  rank  in 


WHIPS   A   BULLY.  311 

the  army,  as  in  the  case  of  Kilpatrick — to-day  a  pupil 
at  West  Point  in  gray — in  three  years  a  youth  of  only 
twenty-six,  wearing  two  stars  on  his  shoulders.  If  this 
sudden  elevation  had  been  brought  about  by  political  or 
social  influence,  it  might  not  seem  so  remarkable,  except 
as  a  striking  illustration  of  the  power  of  favoritism,  but 
when  it  is  known  that  it  has  been  the  result  of  merit 
alone,  of  downright  hard  work  in  the  field,  it  is  mar- 
vellous. 

Hugh  Judson  Kilpatrick  was  born  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Clove,  Northern  New  Jersey,  in  1838,  and  hence  is 
now  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  His  father  was  a 
large  and  respectable  farmer,  and  able  to  give  his  son  the 
advantage  of  an  early  education.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, he  entered  with  great  ardor  into  politics,  and  was 
chosen  delegate  to  the  State  Convention.  He  delivered 
speeches  in  favor  of  the  reelection  of  Mr.  Vail,  member 
of  Congress  from  his  district,  which  undoubtedly  had 
much  to  do  in  securing  him  the  appointment  as  cadet  in 
West  Point,  where  he  entered  on  the  20th  of  June,  1856. 

Though  small,  he  was  plucky,  resolute,  fearless,  and 
self-confident,  and  showed  while  here  some  of  the  finest 
qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a  soldier.  He  was  good- 
tempered  and  genial,  but  a  dangerous  boy  to  attempt  to 
bully.  Being  promoted  to  the  rank  of  cadet  officer,  he 
had  occasion,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  to  reprove 
one  of  the  largest  students  in  the  school  for  misbehaviour. 
The  latter,  relying  on  his  size  and  strength,  made  an  in- 
solent reply,  and  added  that  if  he  reported  him  he  would 
get  a  sound  thrashing.  He  could  not  have  taken  a  surer 
way  to  get  reported,  as  he  most  promptly  was,  by  young 
Kilpatrick.  The  consequence  was  that  the  bully  attacked 
him  on  the  first  opportunity.  Kilpatrick  was  small,  but. 


312  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

made  up  in  agility  and  skill  what  lie  lacked  in  weight ; 
and,  though  he  suffered  severely  in  the  conflict  that  fol- 
lowed, he  stuck  to  his  powerful  antagonist  for  nearly 
three  quarters  of  an  hour,  till  the  latter  was  compelled  to 
yield,  confessing  himself  handsomely  whipped.  He  was 
soon  after  court-martialed,  and  dismissed  the  Academy. 
This,  of  course,  made  Kilpatrick  very  popular — as  the 
pluck  and  endurance  which  overcome  superior  strength 
and  size  always  do — and  he  was  eventually  chosen  to  de- 
liver the  valedictory  of  his  class,  in  which  he  graduated 
fifteenth.  He,  however,  did  not  stay  the  full  year  out, 
which  closed  in  June,  1861.  The  attack  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  rebellion  in  the  spring, 
fired  him  with  such  an  ardent  desire  to  be  in  active  ser- 
vice, that  he  felt  he  could  not  wait  till  the  end  of  the 
Academic  year,  and  he  and  two  others  drew  up  a  petition 
in  April,  which  was  signed  by  thirty  out  of  the  class  of 
fifty,  asking  to  be  allowed  to  graduate  at  once,  and  finish 
their  education  on  the  battle-field.  Their  request  was 
granted,  and  the  class  at  once  graduated,  Kilpatrick  de- 
livering the  valedictory. 

Being  already  betrothed,  and  the  affianced  'bride  feel- 
ing that  she  could  not  be  denied  the  right  to  be  near  him 
if  wounded,  they  were  at  once  married,  and  proceeded  to 
Washington  together.  Young  Kilpatrick  was  made  an 
officer  in  Duryea's  Zouaves,  and  repaired  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  On  the  llth  of  June,  in  the  unfortunate  battle 
of  Big  Bethel,  he,  with  a  part  of  the  Zouaves,  by  march- 
ing all  night,  surprised  the  rebel  pickets  a  mile  from  the 
place,  and  captured  them.  In  the  engagement  that  fol- 
lowed he  was  wounded  by  a  grape-shot  in  the  thigh. 
But,  though  racked  with  pain,  the  plucky  young  officer 
refused  to  leave  the  ground,  and  still  led  his  men  to  the 


SEIZES   FALMOUTH.      •  313 

charge,  until  at  length,  faint  with  the  loss  of  blood,  he 
was  borne  from  his  first  battle-field. 

He  did  not  recover  from  the  effects  of  this  wound 
sufficiently  to  take  the  field  again  until  September,  when 
McClellan  had  command  of  the  army.  He  was  now 
made  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Harris  Light  Cavalry,  and 
promoted  to  first  lieutenant  of  the  First  Artillery  regular 
army. 

During  the  winter,  besides  having  his  own  duties  to 
attend  to,  he  was  made  a  member  of  an  Examining  Board 
for  examining  cavalry  officers  of  the  volunteer  service, 
and  Inspector-General  of  McDowell's  division.  In  March, 
when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  moved  on  Manassas,  his 
regiment  led  the  advance ;  but  on  its  transfer  to  the  Pen- 
insula, he  remained  behind  under  the  command  of  Mc- 
Dowell. In  April,  this  general  was  directed  to  occupy 
Fredericksburg,  preparatory  to  a  co-operating  movement 
with  McClellan  on  Richmond,  Falmouth,  opposite  the 
place,  was  the  first  point  of  attack,  and  on  the  17th,  at 
daylight,  Kilpatrick,  with  the  Harris  Light  Cavalry, 
moved  off  in  advance  of  the  column  sent  to  capture  it 

It  was  a  warm  spring  day,  and  in  the  afternoon  over- 
coats and  blankets  became  oppressive  to  both  mer  and 
horses,  and  they  were  pitched  off  by  the  roadside.  Twelve 
miles  beyond  Catlett's  Station,  the  enemy's  pickets  were 
encountered  and  driven  in,  and  followed  in  hot  pursuit  for 
eight  miles.  At  length  Kilpatrick  approached  the  rebel  camp, 
when  he  ordered  his  bugles  to  sound  the  charge,  and  dashing 
forward,  scattered  the  enemy  like  frightened  sheep.  He 
had  marched  twenty-six  miles,  and  so  now  bivouacked  in 
the  rebel  camp  for  the  night.  But  at  one  o'clock  next 
morning,  the  bugle  sounded  "boots  and  saddles,"  and  the 
regiment  pressed  forward,  when  it  came  upon  a  barricade 


314  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

of  rails  across  the  road,  behind  which  the  enemy  lay 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  Kilpatrick  ordered  a 
charge,  and  the  bold  troopers  rode  like  mad  over  the 
obstruction,  and  at  daylight  galloped  into  Falmouth. 
The  rebel  commander  was  out  examining  the  pickets  at 
the  time  Kilpatrick's  troopers  came  clattering  down  the 
road,  and  instantly  turned  in  flight.  But  the  latter 
having  caught  sight  of  him,  at  once  put  spurs  to  his  horse 
and  dashed  after  in  hot  pursuit.  It  was  an  exciting 
chase ;  but  the  rebel  officer  was  either  better  mounted,  or 
his  horse  was  fresher  than  Kilpatrick's,  for  after  a  fierce 
ride  of  four  miles  he  succeeded  in  escaping. 

Afterward,  when  Pope  assumed  command  of  the 
army,  Kilpatrick  was  directed  to  break  up  the  railroad 
running  from  Gordonsville  to  Richmond,  and  thus  sever 
Lee's  communications.  He  struck  it  at  Beaver  Dam, 
Frederick  Hall  and  Hanover  Junction,  burning  stations, 
spreading  ruin  in  his  track,  and  filling  the  country  with 
alarm.  He  marched  eighty  miles  in  thirty  hours,  and 
again  reached  Fredericksburg  late  Sunday  evening,  fol- 
lowed by  the  rebels.  The  latter  continuing  to  lurk  in  the 
vicinity,  Kilpatrick  having  rested  his  command,  started 
out  with  about  four  hundred  men  to  hunt  them  up. 
Leaving  Fredericksburg  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
lie  marched  sixteen  miles  and  encamped.  Mounting  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  pushed  on,  reaching  Mount 
Carmel  at  daylight.  Meeting  near  here  a  force  of  the 
enemy,  he  charged  them,  and  drove  them  back  into  and 
over  the  North  Anna  river  in  utter  confusion.  Pushing 
across  he  continued  the  pursuit,  till  he  at  length  came 
upon  them  drawn  up  on  the  road  in  columns  of  platoons, 
with  dismounted  men  on  either  side  armed  with  rifles. 
With  singular  audacity,  Kilpatrick,  with  Major  Davies 


HIS    AUDACITY.  315 

and  Captain  Walters,  rode  forward  alone  to  reconnoitre, 
and  actually  held   conversation   with   the   rebels.       He 
had  scarcely  returned  to  his  command,  when  the  enemy 
opened  on  him  with  their  rifles  and  carbines.     One  shot 
aimed  at  Kilpatrick,  struck  a  horse's  head  in  front  of  him, 
and  passed  clean  through  it,  which  so  deadened  its  forco 
that  when  it  reached  him  it  fell  harmless  to  the  ground. 
The  skirmishers  now  pressed  forward  on  both  sides,  jeer- 
ing each  other  in  the  intervals  of  the  shots.     At  length 
the  order  of  the  rebel  commander  was  heard,  "  By  pla- 
toons, left  about  wheel,"  when  instantly  our  bugles  sound- 
ed the  charge,  and  away  the  rebels  went  helter-skelter 
down  the  road  toward  Hanover  Junction.     Here  they 
took  refuge  behind  reinforcements,  and  Kilpatrick  wheel- 
ed, and  rode  back  to  the  abandoned  camp  and  commenced 
the  destruction  of  property.     A  railroad   train  loaded 
with  grain,  wagons,  tools  and   commissary  stores,  &c., 
were  fired.     "While  fires  were  still  raging,  a  large  body 
of  Stuart's  cavalry  suddenly  appeared  in  sight.     Had 
they  charged  at  once,  that  would  probably  have  been  the 
last  of  Kilpatrick,  for  they  outnumbered  him  three  to 
one,  and  he  was  totally  unprepared  for  them.     But  they 
halting  to  reconnoitre,  Kilpatrick  suddenly  threw  a  pla- 
toon across  the  road,  and  sounding  the  rally,  was  in  a  few 
moments  ready  for  the  conflict.     Instead  of  looking  about 
to  see  how  he  could  effect  a  safe  retreat,  he  with  his 
usual  daring  determined  to  attack,  and  sending  round 
Davies  to  assail  them  in  flank  while  he  charged  them  in 
front,  he  actually  drove  this  superior  force  in  flight  down 
the  railroad.     Pursuing  as  far  as  he  deemed  prudent,  and 
kindling  fires  along  the  track,  he  leisurely  retraced  his 
steps,  reaching  Fredericksburg  at  midnight  on  the  23d, 
having  ridden  seventy-four  miles  in  twenty-four  hours. 


316  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

It  was  very  plain  that  horse-flesh,  if  nothing  else,  would 
suffer  under  this  tireless  commander.  In  the  rebel  camp 
he  found  a  paper  stating  that  General  Stuart  was  build- 
ing a  bridge  over  the  North  Anna ;  so  he  left  a  note  for 
him,  telling  him  he  need  not  trouble  himself  farther  about 
the  bridge,  as  he  would  give  him"  all  he  could  attend  to 
on  the  other  side. 

In  the  disastrous  campaign  of  Pope  that  followed,  he 
did  efficient  service.  The  whole  cavalry  force  being  under 
Bayard,  was  employed  chiefly  in  protecting  the  Rapiclan, 
and  covering  the  retreat  of  the  army.  In  the  perform- 
ance of  the  arduous  duties  laid  upon  him,  and  the  various 
movements  and  battles  that  occurred,  he  enlarged  his  ex- 
perience, and  went  through  a  useful  training,  preparatory 
to  the  wider  field  he  was  destined  to  occupy. 

The  cavalry  took  no  important  part  in  the  unfortunate 
campaign  of  Burnside,  and  was  south  of  Washington 
while  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam  were 
filling  the  country  with  joy. 

When  Hooker  took  command,  the  scattered  cavalry 
regiments  were  again  brought  together,  and  the  whole 
reorganized  and  placed  under  Stoneman. 

In  the  following  spring,  when  Hooker  commenced  his 
movement  across  the  Rappahannock,  he  sent  his  cavalry 
force  to  the  rear  of  Lee,  to  break  up  his  communications, 
and  prevent  his  retreat.  Kilpatrick  commanded  a  brigade 
in  the  commencement  of  this  extraordinary  movement. 
When  Stoneman  divided  his  forces,  assigning  to  each  its 
peculiar  task,  Kilpatrick,  with  his  regiment,  numbering 
some  450  men,  was  sent  to  burn  the  railroad  and  bridges 
over  the  Chickahominy,  five  miles  from  Richmond 
Though  the  country  was  swarming  with  the  enemy,  he 
skilfully  avoided  the  large  bodies,  and  scattering  the  small 


RAID    AROUND   LEE^S   ARMY.  317 

ones  fhat  he  encountered,  rode  rapidly  forward  till  he 
came  within  two  miles  of  the  rebel  capital.  {c  Here,"  he 
says,  "  I  captured  Lieutenant  Brown,  aid-de-camp  to  Gen- 
eral Winder,  and  eleven  men  within  the  fortifications.  I 
then  passed  down  to  the  left  to  the  Meadow  Bridge,  on 
the  Chickahominy,  which  I  burned,  ran  a  train  of  cars 
into  the  river,  retired  to  Hanovertown,  on  the  peninsula, 
crossed  just  in  time  to  check  the  advance  of  a  pursuing 
cavalry  force,  burned  a  train  of  thirty  wagons  loaded  with 
bacon,  captured  thirteen  prisoners,  and  encamped  for  the 
night  five  miles  from  the  river.  I  resumed  my  march  at 
one  A.  M.  of  the  5th,  surprised  a  force  of  three  hundred 
cavalry  of  Ayletfs,  captured  two  officers  and  thirty-three 
men,  burned  fifty-six  wagons  and  the  depot,  containing  up- 
wards of  twenty  thousand  barrels  of  corn  and  wheat,  quan- 
tities of  clothing,  and  commissary  stores,  and  safely  crossed 
the  Mattapony,  and  destroyed  the  ferry  again,  just  in  time 
to  escape  the  rebel  cavalry  pursuit.  Late  in  the  evening,  I 
destroyed  a  third  wagon  train  and  depot,  a  few  miles 
above  and  west  of  Tappahannock,  and  from  that  point 
made  a  forced  march  of  twenty  miles,  closely  followed  by 
a  superior  force  of  cavalry."  He  then  kept  on,  and  at 
length  "  on  the  7th,  found  safety  within  our  lines,  at 
Gloucester  Point."  He  had  made  a  march  around  the 
rebel  army  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles  in  less  than  five 
days,  having  captured  and  paroled  upwards  of  eight 
hundred  prisoners,  with  a  loss  to  his  little  command  of 
only  one  officer  and  thirty-seven  men. 

"When  Lee,  following  up  Hooker's  defeat  at  Chancel- 
lorsville,  commenced  his  great  movement  around  Wash- 
ington into  Maryland,  the  cavalry  was  again  brought  into 
active  service.  Hooker,  hearing  that  Lee  had  massed 
his  cavalry  near  Beverly  Ford,  and  by  the  clouds  01  dust 


318  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK, 

that  rolled  away  towards  Culpepper,  suspecting  his  wily 
adversary  was  making  some  great  movement,  sent  out  his 
cavalry  to  make  a  reconnoissance.  Pleasanton  in  com- 
mand, moved  forward,  and  came  upon  the  enemy  at 
Brandy  Station,  when  the  severest  cavalry  fight  of  the 
war,  thus  far,  took  place.  Determined  charges  were 
made  on  both  sides,  and  hour  after  hour  the  flashing 
sabres  drank  blood,  but  neither  would  yield  the  field 
During  the  engagement,  Gregg  came  very  near  being 
overborne,  when  Kilpatrick  made  one  of  his  gallant 
charges.  He  was  posted  with  three  regiments — the  Harris 
Light,  Tenth  New  York,  and  First  Maine — on  a  slight 
elevation,  and  looking  on  the  plain  below  filled  with  the 
charging  squadrons,  he  saw  Gregg,  though  bravely  fight- 
ing, falling  back.  Fired  at  the  sight,  he  flung  out  his 
battle  flag  and  ordered  the  bugles  to  sound  the  charge. 
In  echelon  of  squadrons  by  regiments,  down  came  the 
brigade  like  a  loosened  cliff  on  the  heavy  columns  of  the 
foe — the  Tenth  New  York  in  advance.  It  fell  with  a 
shout  on  the  rebel  squadrons,  but  rebounded  from  the 
blow  and  swung  off.  The  Harris  Light,  following  close 
on  its  heels,  repeated  the  charge,  but  was  also  borne  back. 
Stung  into  madness  at  the  sight  of  his  own  regiment  re- 
pulsed and  shattered,  he  flung  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
First  Maine,  still  further  in  the  rear,  and  moving  forward 
on  a  walk,  shouted :  "  Men  of  Maine,  you  must  save  the 
day;  follow  me!"  Closing  grandly  up,  the  regiment 
marched  off  behind  its  leader,  who  circled  to  the  right,  till 
he  got  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  when  he  ordered  the 
bugles  to  sound  the  charge,  and  coming  down  in  a  wild 
gallop,  struck  the  enemy  like  a  thunderbolt,  forcing  back 
his  hitherto  steady  line.  As  the  clattering  tempest  swept 
past  the  other  two  shattered  regiments,  Kilpatrick  shouted 


FIGHT   AT   ALDIE.  319 

out,  over  the  tumult :  "  Back,  the  Harris  Light !  Back, 
the  Tenth  New  York  !  Reform  your  squadrons  and 
charge ! " 

The  field  was  won ;  but  a  heavy  body  of  infantry 
coming  up  to  reinforce  the  cavalry,  Pleasanton  withdrew 
across  the  Rappahannock. 

Kilpatrick  was  now  made  brigadier,  and  in  the  fight 
at  Aldie.  which  occurred  shortly  after,  again  met  Lea 
Ordered  by  Pleasanton  to  push  through  Ashby's  Gap  and 
ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  the  rebel  army  that  was 
moving  so  leisurely  around  Washington,  he  suddenly 
came  upon  the  advance  guard  of  Fitzhugh  Lee  at  Aldie. 
Securing  a  strong  position  he  resisted  every  attempt  of 
the  enemy  to  dislodge  him,  although  charge  after  charge 
was  made.  After  one  of  these  fierce  onsets,  Colonel 
Cesnola,  of  the  Fourth  New  York,  from  some  miscon- 
ception of  his  conduct  was  placed  under  arrest,  and  his 
sword  taken  from  him.  But  soon  after,  seeing  his  regiment 
charge  and  then  waver  and  fall  back,  he  forgot  his  arrest, 
and  all  weaponless  as  he  was,  galloped  to  its  head,  and 
with  cap  instead  of  sword  in  hand,  led  them  bravely  to 
the  shock.  Kilpatrick  saw  the  action,  and  chivalrous 
himself,  he  could  not  but  admire  this  gallant  deed,  and 
riding  up  to  him  as  he  came  back  from  the  charge,  he 
said,  u  Colonel,  you  are  a  brave  man  !  You  are  released 
from  arrest,"  and  unbuckling  his  sword  handed  it  to  him, 
saying,  "  Here,  take  my  sword  and  wear  it  in  honor  of  this 
day !  "  No  wonder  his  next  charge  was  fierce  as  a  storm, 
in  which  the  brave  fellow  fell,  desperately  wounded,  and 
was  taken  prisoner. 

Later  in  the  day,  when  the  tide  of  battle  set  against 
him  and  his  squadrons  were  borne  back,  he  again  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  First  Maine  as  at  Brandy  Station, 


320  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

and  leading  it  in  person,  charged  with  such  desperation, 
that  the  enemy  broke  and  fled.  His  horse  was  killed 
under  him  in  this  onset;  but,  mounting  another,  he 
ordered  the  whole  line  to  advance.  Lee  fell  back  before 
it,  and  turned  in  flight,  followed  hard  after  by  Kilpatrick 
till  night  put  a  stop  to  the  pursuit.  The  next  morning 
he  made  a  sabre  charge  into  the  town  of  Upper ville,  driv- 
ing the  enemy  out  of  it  in  affright. 

Soon  after,  when  Hooker  was  relieved  and  Meadeput  in 
his  place,  Kilpatrick  was  given  command  of  General  Stahl's 
division  of  5, 000  men.  The  cavalry  corps  was  divided  at 
this  time  into  three  great  divisions,  this  division  constitut- 
ing one,  Buford  and  Gregg  commanding  the  other  two. 
The  rebel  General  Stuart  did  not  cross  his  cavalry  with 
Lee's  army,  but  farther  down  the  Potomac,  between 
Hooker  and  Washington,  and  pushed  on  toward  the  capi- 
tal, throwing  it  into  the  wildest  consternation.  Kilpatrick, 
with  his  division,  was  sent  after  him.  But  on  the  last 
day  of  June,  while  halting  at  Hanover,  he  was  suddenly 
attacked  by  Stuart's  whole  force.  He  did  not  know  the 
latter  was  in  the  vicinity  till  he  heard  his  bugles  in  his 
rear  and  on  his  flank.  It  was  a  perilous  moment  for 
him,  and  a  less  prompt  man  would  have  been  overwhelm- 
ed ;  but  he  quickly  formed  his  squadrons,  and  though 
Stuart  led  the  charge  in  person,  it  was  repulsed.  Still,  for 
a  while  victory  hung  in  the  balance,  and  not  till  after  a 
"struggle  of  four  hours  did  he  finally  succeed  in  shaking 
off  his  enemy.  A  little  boy  named  Smith,  only  twelve 
years  old,  a  bugler  in  the  First  Maine,  charged  bravely 
with  his  regiment  and  had  his  horse  killed  under  him. 
The  little  fellow's  gallant  bearing  so  pleased  Kilpa- 
trick, that  he  at  once  adopted  him  as  his  aid,  and  ever 
after  where  the  General  was,  whether  on  the  march 


PURSUIT   OF   LEE.  321 

or  in  the  headlong  charge,  he  was  sure  to  be  found  at 
his  side. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  Kilpatrick  made  a  forced  march 
to  Heidlesberg,  to  intercept  Stuart,  who  was  on  his  way 
to  join  Lee's  army,  but  the  latter  had  gained  a  march  on 
him,  and  so  slipped  through.  He  now  received  orders 
to  join  the  main  army  at  Two  Taverns,  which  ho 
reached  about  daylight  on  the  third  day  of  July.  Three 
hours  later  the  column  was  again  in  motion,  and  at  eleven 
o'clock  attacked  the  enemy's  right  flank  at  Gettysburg. 
Here  a  desperate  fight  occurred,  in  which,  after  a  long 
and  severe  struggle,  Farnsworth,  who  commanded  the  force 
making  it,  was  killed,  and  the  three  regiments  under  him 
terribly  cut  up.  The  enemy  concentrating  a  heavy  force  at 
this  point,  as  Kilpatrick  threatened  his  ammunition  trains, 
the  latter  was  compelled  to  fall  back ;  and  night  coming 
on  with  a  heavy  thunder-storm,  he  retired  two  or  three 
miles  and  bivouacked.  Next  morning,  the  ever  memor- 
able 4th,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  enemy  was  in  full 
retreat,  and  Kilpatrick  was  immediately  started  in  pursuit 
to  harass  his  rear  and  capture  his  trains.  Amid  a  pelting 
rain  storm  his  column  pushed  on  all  day,  and  at  noon 
reached  Emmettsburg.  Drenched  and  weary,  it  halted 
here  only  for  a  short  time,  and  then  hurried  forward  to- 
wards the  mountain,  the  base  of  which  it  reached  just  at 
dark.  The  road  up  it  was  dug  along  the  steep  sides,  and 
only  wide  enough  for  four  horses  to  move  abreast,  while 
from  its  lower  edge  a  deep  abyss  sank  away.  Up  this 
narrow,  unknown  way,  in  a  drizzling  rain,  and  enveloped 
in  darkness  so  deep  that  the  riders,  though  jostling  together, 
could  not  see  each  other,  the  exhausted,  sleepy  soldiers 
on  their  weary  animals  slowly  toiled,  the  heavy  tread  of 
the  horses  and  the  jingling  of  the  steel  scabbards,  the  only 


322  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATR1CK, 

sounds  that  broke  the  deep  silence ;  until  near  the  top,  when 
suddenly  a  mouth  of  fire  opened  in  the  gloom,  and  the 
thunder  of  a  cannon  shook  the  heights,  while  down  along 
the  narrow  way  came  the  fiery  hail-storm.  Though  on 
the  look-out  for  danger,  the  column  was  startled  at  the 
suddenness  of  the  discharge,  and  before  it  had  time  to 
recover,  from  either  side  came  a  rattling  fire  of  musketry, 
lighting  up  with  a  strange  glow  that  rocky  mountain  sum- 
mit. The  leading  squadron  broke  and  fell  back  on  the 
second,  which  also  broke,  and  for  a  moment  the  narrow 
road  was  jammed  with  men  and  horses  struggling  in  the 
darkness.  But  that  long  column,  winding  for  miles  away 
down  the  mountain  side  could  not  wheel  about,  and  so 
the  broken  squadrons  were  rallied,  skirmishers  dismount- 
ed and  thrown  out,  and  the  First  Virginia  ordered  to  the 
front  Forming  as  best  they  could,  in  the  gloom,  the 
bugles  sounded  the  charge,  and  across  the  summit  and 
down  the  farther  side  into  the  inky  darkness  the  fearless 
riders  plunged.  Clearing  the  way  before  them,  they  kept 
on  till  they  came  upon  Ewell's  long  train,  guarded  by 
four  regiments.  Firing  a  volley,  they  cried  u  Do  you  sur- 
render ?  "  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  and  for  eight  miles  the 
cavalry  swept  along  the  train  that  had  come  to  a  halt. 
A  heavy  thunder-storm  now  broke  along  the  mountain, 
which,  combined  with  the  roar  of  torrents  down  its 
sides,  and  the  howling  of  the  wind,  joined  to  the 
shouts  and  oaths  and  curses  of  men,  added  incon- 
ceivable terror  to  the  scene.  At  length  the  welcome 
morning  dawned,  when  Kilpatrick  disposed  of  his  prison- 
ers as  he  best  could,  and  burned  such  wagons  as  he  could 
not  get  off.  Soon  after,  the  whole  command,  wet,  weary, 
hungry  and  splashed  with  mud,  halted  for  a  short  rest 
In  a  few  minutes  all,  were  asleep  save  the  guard,  Kil- 


A   PLEASANT   WELCOME.  323 

patrick  among  the  rest.  After  two  hours  of  such  rest  as 
they  could  get  in  the  falling  rain,  the  bugles  again  sound- 
ed "forward,"  and  the  column  moved  on  to  Smithburg, 
which  it  reached  about  nine  o'clock.  It  was  Sunday;  the 
storm  had  now  cleared  away,  and  the  summer  sun  shone 
brightly  on  the  smiling  landscape,  while  young  girls  lined 
the  streets,  loaded  with  flowers  and  singing  patriotic  songs. 
As  Kilpatrick  and  his  mud-besplashed  troopers  passed 
along,  bouquets  without  number  were  showered  upon  them, 
and  the  older  ladies,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  came  forth 
with  plates  heaped  with  snowy  bread  for  their  refreshment. 
Such  songs  of  welcome  and  gladness  and  joy  after  that 
stormy  night's  ride  and  fight  in  the  •  mountains,  was  like 
waking  from  a  troubled  dream  to  find  one's  self  amid 
flowers  and  music.  It  aroused  the  nodding  band  of  the 
column,  and  it  struck  up  "Hail,  Columbia,"  and  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  till  that  little  village  overflowed  with 
joy  and  thanksgiving.  But  all  this  was  soon  changed^ 
for  the  enemy,  enraged  at  Kilpatrick's  daring  pursuit, 
sent  a  heavy  force  against  him  which  now  came  charging 
with  yells  upon  the  place.  Finding  they  could  not  drive  him 
out,  they  planted  a  battery  on  a  commanding  eminence  and 
commenced  shelling  the  town.  Though  they  outnumbered 
him,  Kilpatrick,  by  the  skilful  disposition  of  his  forces,  kept 
them  at  bay  all  day.  After  dark  he  moved  off  towards 
Boonesboro,  which  he  reached  just  before  midnight. 

Early  next  morning,  hearing  that  the  enemy  had 
a  train  near  Hagerstown,  he  inarched  on  that  place. 
Coming  upon  the  enemy's  pickets  at  the  edge  of  the  town,, 
he  charged  and  drove  them,  and  riding  fiercely  into  the 
place,  struck  the  head  of  the  enemy's  column  that  was 
just  entering  it.  Up  and  down  the  streets  his  brave 

troopers  rode,  scattering  the  enemy  before  them,  but  he 
21 


324  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATRfCK. 

soon  discovered  that  this  force,  composed  of  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  artillery,  was  too  heavy  for  him,  and  his 
command  having  already  suffered  severely,  he  determined, 
if  possible,  to  get  away,  and  move  off  toward  Williams- 
port.  This  was  a  difficult  undertaking  in  presence  of  the 
enemy,  but  he  accomplished  it,  and  galloped  swiftly  along 
the  road,  on  which  he  placed  the  First  Vermont  and 
Fifth  New  York  as  a  rear-guard.  On  this  the  rebels 
came  with  overwhelming  force,  and  a  fierce  and  sangui- 
nary fight  followed.  But  the  noble  rear-guard  knew  the 
importance  of  the  trust  committed  to  it,  and  held  its 
ground  with  unflinching  firmness.  Compelled  to  yield 
one  position,  it  would  take  another,  and  dispute  it  to  the 
last.  It  did  its  duty  nobly,  and  though  it  could  not 
effectually  stop  the  enemy,  it  delayed  him  till  Kilpatrick, 
with  the  main  column,  was  beyond  his  reach.  Its 
mangled  horses  and  slain  men  scattered  along  the  road 
attested  its  fidelity. 

Reaching  the  top  of  a  hill  that  overlooked  Williams- 
port,  about  four  o'clock,  Kilpatrick  was  greeted  with  the 
sound  of  battle  from  Buford's  command  that  was  hotly 
engaged  with  the  enemy.  He  immediately  threw  out  his 
skirmishers,  and  began  to  plant  his  batteries,  but  before 
his  orders  could  be  fully  carried  out,  he  heard  the  sound  of 
firing  in  his  rear.  Hiding  to  where  he  could  command 
the  road  for  a  long  distance,  he  discovered  his  rear-guard 
falling  back  in  disorder.  With  the  rebels  in  front  and 
rear,  he  saw  at  once  the  peril  of  his  position.  For  one 
moment  he  sat  tapping  his  boot  in  anxious  thought ;  the 
next  he  ordered  the  Harris  Light  to  charge  the  enemy, 
now  thundering  down  with  pealing  bugles  and  shouts  or 
his  rear-guard.  This  noble  regiment,  leaning  forward  on 
their  horses,  with  drawn  sabres,  drove  full  on  the  exult- 


THE    WORK   OF    TWO    WEEKS.  325 

ant,  confident  foe,  and  hurled  him  back  over  the  road. 
This  gave  Kilpatrick  time  to  form  his  command  for  a  re- 
treat, which  he  did  so  skilfully,  that  he  fell  back  for  three 
miles,  fighting  as  he  went,  and  punishing  the  enemy  so 
severely  that  he  was  able  to  go  into  camp  unmolested. 
His  weary  men,  covered  by  Buford's  command,  which 
kept  the  enemy  in  check,  went  to  sleep  on  the  spot  where 
they  halted. 

The  next  morning  he  moved  back  to  Boonesboro,  and 
on  the  following  day  fought  the  enemy  again,  and  forced 
him  back  to  Antietam  Creek.  Thursday  and  Friday  he 
was  almost  constantly  engaged  with  the  enemy,  and  on 
Saturday  again  defeating  him,  he  boldly  turned  the  head 
of  his  column  once  more  toward  Hagerstown.  Meeting 
the  skirmishers  two  miles  out,  he  drove  them  in,  and 
after  a  fight  of  one  hour  rode  into  the  town  and  occupied 
it.  He  remained  here  Monday  and  Tuesday,  anxious  to 
move  forward,  for  he  fully  believed  that  Lee  was  crossing 
the  Potomac  ;  but  could  get  no  orders  to  do  so.  Chafing 
under  his  inactivity  while  he  knew  the  enemy  was  escap- 
ing, he  resolved  at  last  to  wait  no  longer,  and  assuming 
the  responsibility,  he  moved  off  toward  Williamsport,  and 
actually  chased  a  part  of  Lee's  rear-guard  into  the  river, 
taking  many  prisoners.  Hearing  that  a  portion  of  the 
rebel  force  had  marched  toward  Falling  Waters,  he 
moved  rapidly  off  in  that  direction,  and  was  in  the  fight 
that  killed  General  Pettigrew,  and  scattered  his  four 
brigades,  taking  1,500  prisoners,  three  battle-flags,  and 
two  guns. 

For  over  two  weeks  Kilpatrick  had  now  been  almost 
constantly  in  the  saddle,  fighting  upon  an  average  a  battle 
per  day,  and  riding  hundreds  of  miles.  His  division,  at 
the  outset,  consisted  of  some  5,000  men,  and  now  at  the 


326  MAJOR-GENERAL    HLGH   JUDSON    KILPATRICK. 

• 

end  of  this  strange  campaign,  he  reported  4,500  pris- 
oners  taptured,  with  nine  guns,  and  eleven  battle-flags. 

But  for  the  great  battle  of  Gettysburg  that  over- 
shadowed all  minor  operations,  the  country  would  have 
rung  with  his  exploits.  Had  he  been  allowed  to  have 
his  own  way,  when  at  Hagerstown,  Lee  would  never  have 
got  across  the  Potomac  almost  unscathed  as  he  did. 

The  tremendous  strain  he  had  put  upon  his  men  and 
horses  rendered  his  command  unfit  for  immediate  use,  and 
broke  down  for  awhile  even  the  iron  constitution  of  Kil- 
patrick,  and  obtaining  a  furlough  to  recruit  his  shattered 
constitution,  he  returned  to  his  quiet  home  on  the  Hud- 
son, at  West  Point. 

In  the  middle  of  September,  when  Meade  resolved  to 
advance  on  Lee,  then  encamped  along  the  south  shore  of 
the  Ka,pidan,  Kilpatrick  again  joined  his  command.  Stu- 
art's cavalry  was  at  Culpepper,  and  Pleasanton  was  di- 
rected to  drive  him  out.  While  the  main  portion  of  the 
force  moved  directly  upon  the  place,  Kilpatrick  was  sent 
across  the  country,  and  came  down  upon  it  from  the  di- 
rection of  Stevensburg.  Some  time  after  Buford  and 
Gregg  had  been  engaging  the  enemy,  he  reached  his 
assigned  position,  and  charged  down  into  the  place  under 
a  heavy  fire  of  artillery,  clearing  the  streets  like  a 
whirlwind,  and  capturing  three  Blakely  guns  in  his  pas- 
sage. Soon  after,  when  Lee  forced  Meade  to  retreat 
across  the  Rappahannock,  and  retire  to  Centreville, 
Pleasanton  was  directed  to  remain  at  Culpepper  and 
watch  the  enemy.  Compelled  to  fall  back  from  this  place 
through  some  misunderstanding,  Kilpatrick's  column  be- 
came cut  off  from  the  main  body,  and  before  he  was 
aware  of  it,  he  saw  Fitzhugh's  division  of  cavalry  in 
three  lines  holding  the  road  in  front  of  him,  while  hostile 


A    GALLAls7T   CHARGE.  327 

batteries  appeared  on  his  right  flank,  and  began  to  pour 
their  fire  into  him,  and  large  bodies  of  cavalry  were  seen 
moving  around  his  left ;  in  short,  he  was  getting  complete- 
ly surrounded.  To  make  it  worse,  the  chief  himself, 
Pleasanton,  was  with  him.  Such  a  sudden  revelation  natu- 
rally, for  a  moment,  sent  dismay  through  the  cavalry ;  but 
this  was  just  one  of  those  perilous  positions  in  which  the 
genius  of  Kilpatrick  shone  out  with  greatest  lustre. 
Coolly  giving  his  orders,  he  rode  out  on  an  elevated  posi- 
tion in  full  view  of  his  own  force — only  about  four  thou- 
sand strong — and  that  of  the  enemy.  At  the  sight  the 
brave  fellows  sent  up  a  loud  shout,  and  their  blades  leap- 
ed from  their  scabbards.  With  a  heavy  line  of  skirmish- 
ers thrown  out  on  all  sides,  to  protect  his  flanks,  he 
formed  his  command  into  three  columns  of  a  thousand 
each,  himself  being  in  the  centre,  and  moved  steadily 
down  on  the  enemy.  When  within  a  few  hundred  yards, 
the  band  struck  up  Yankee  Doodle,  and  while  the  excit- 
ing strains  were  still  vibrating  on  the  air,  a  hundred 
bugles  suddenly  pealed  forth  the  charge,  and  leaning  for- 
ward on  their  horses,  and  shaking  their  flashing  sabres 
over  their  heads,  these  three  thousand  men  dashed  for- 
ward with  one  loud  defiant  yell.  Before  their  onset,  the 
rebel  line  parted  like  mist,  leaving  a  wide,  open  road  be- 
fore them,  and  they  moved  on  and  joined  the  main  body. 
The  enemy,  however,  rallied,  and  concentrating  their 
forces,  prepared  for  battle,  and  the  great  cavalry  fight  at 
Brandy  Station  followed.  Here  Kilpatrick,  with  Buford, 
Gregg,  Ouster,  and  Davis,  all  under  Pleasanton,  enacted 
over  their  great  deeds  again.  The  plains  shook  to  the 
shock  of  charging  squadrons,  and  gleaming  sabres  turned 
red  with  the  b'lood  of  men.  Long  after  twilight  closed 
over  the  tumultuous  scene,  the  blaze  of  guns,  and  the 


328  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON    KILPATRICK. 

glinting  of  steel  striking  steel,  shed  a  fitful  light  ever 
the  field.  At  length  the  exhausted,  baffled  enemy  ceased 
his  attacks,  and  the  cavalry  fell  back  with  the  army  to 
Centreville. 

When  Meade  soon  after  advanced,  Kilpatrick,  with 
some  two  or  three  thousand  men,  was  sent  to  clear  the 
front,  and  fell,  as  the  rebels  assert,  into  a  trap  laid  for 
him.  At  all  events,  he  was  -attacked  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing force,  beaten  badly,  and  barely  escaped  utter  destruc- 
tion. By  his  daring  and  rapid  movements,  however,  he 
got  back  to  our  lines  without  the  loss  of  a  gun,  though 
many  prisoners  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  The  battle 
of  Bristoe  Station  followed,  when  the  army  went  into 
winter  quarters. 

At  this  time,  Kilpatrick  met  his  first  great  sorrow  in 
the  loss  of  his  young  wife  and  child,  though  the  sad  be- 
reavement did  not  keep  him  long  from  the  field.  In  fact, 
he  had  one  less  motive  to  live — one  less  claim  to  his 
affections,  which  he  could  now  give  undivided  to  his 
country. 

During  the  following  winter,  the  country  became 
much  agitated  with  the  reports  of  the  cruel  treatment  to 
our  prisoners  at  Richmond,  and,  as  no  exchange  could  be 
effected,  by  which  they  could  be  released  from  sufferings 
worse  than  death,  Kilpatrick  conceived  the  bold  idea  of 
rescuing  them  by  force.  Learning  that  Richmond  was 
weakly  garrisoned,  the  troops  being  mostly  with  Lee's 
army,  he  thought  by  a  sudden  dash  with  a  large  force  of 
cavalry  in  midwinter,  when  such  a  movement  would  be 
least  expected,  he  might  be  able  to  reach  the  prisons  where 
they  were  confined,  and  release  them.  Of  course  the  mo- 
ment they  were  free  they  would  be  able  to  take  the  city, 
and  hold  it  till  other  troops  could  arrive  from  below,  or 


A  VAIN  BUT  NOBLE  EFFOR1.  329 

else  march  down  to  Yorktown.  Kilpatrick  having  form- 
ed his  plan,  and  submitted  it  with  all  its  details  to  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  War,  it  was,  after  due  delib- 
eration, accepted.  The  enterprise  they  knew  to  be  a 
most  hazardous  one,  but  the  noble  object  in  view  seemed 
to  justify  the  attempt. 

On  the  last  day  of  February,  this  daring  leader,  with 
4,000  chosen  men,  left  his  camp  at  Stevensburg,  and 
marched  for  Ely's  Ford,  on  the  Rapidan.  The  first  con- 
dition of  success  was,  to  get  so  far  beyond  the  enemy's 
lines  before  discovery  as  to  render  pursuit  impossible, 
and  so  give  time  to  carry  out  the  details  of  the  plan ;  for 
with  a  large  body  of  cavalry  at  his  heels,  it  would  be  at 
best  only  a  wild  gallop  across  the  country,  without  any 
beneficial  result. 

This  ford  was  well  guarded,  and  an  alarm  given  here 
would  be  fatal  He,  therefore,  sent  a  daring  scout,  named 
Hogan,  with  fifty  resolute  men,  to  capture,  if  possible, 
the  picket-guard,  composed  of  a  captain,  lieutenant,  and 
twenty-two  men.  These,  scattering  in  different  directions, 
and  crossing  singly  or  in  small  groups,  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing a  certain  point,  where  they  united  and  silently  advanc- 
ing, captured  the  whole  party.  While  .this  was  being 
done,  the  column  stood  halted  in  the  darkness  on  the 
other  side,  the  men  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  the  delay, 
until  the  form  of  Hogan,  stealthily  advancing  through 
the  gloom  with  his  trusty  companions,  gave  the  low  an 
nouncement — "  General,  the  rebel  picket  is  all  right." 

The  column  was  at  once  put  in  motion,  and  rapidly 
crossing  the  river,  struck  off  toward  Spottsylvania  Court- 
House,  where  it  arrived  at  daylight,  twenty  miles  in  rear 
of  the  rebel  army,  without  having  given  the  alarm.  This 
promised  well.  Elated  with  his  success,  Kilpatrick  now 


330  MAJOR-GENERAL    HoGH   JUDSON    KILPATRICK. 

pushed  rapidly  forward  toward  Beaver  Dam  Station,  OB 
the  Virginia  Central  railroad,  reaching  it  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  where  he  went  into  camp  for  a  few  hours. 
Colonels  Dahlgren  and  Cook,  with  five  hundred  men,  had 
been  sent  across  the  James  River,  to  move  down  its  south 
bank  near  to  Bell  Isle,  and  release  the  prisoners  there, 
and  with  them  move  into  the  city,  and  join  Kilpa- 
trick,  who  was  to  enter  the  capital  at  the  same  time  by 
the  Brook  road.  Kilpatrick  performed  his  part  of  the 
programme,  and  at  nine  o'clock  had  carried  the  enemy's 
first  line  of  works  on  the  Brook  turnpike,  less  than  two 
miles  from  the  city,  and  opened  on  it  with  his  artillery. 
This  was  the  signal  agreed  upon  between  him  and  Dahl- 
gren, and  as  the  heavy  echoes  died  away,  he  listened  to 
hear  the  answering  roar  of  the  latter's  guns,  saying  that 
all  was  right.  But  no  echo  came  back.  What  was  to  be 

o 

done,  therefore,  must  be  done  by  himself  alone,  and  that 
quickly.  It  was  soon  very  evident  that  he  had  under- 
estimated the  strength  of  the  rebel  works,  and  for  hours 
he  reconnoitred  in  vain  to  find  a  weak  place  where  he 
could  dash  in.  In  the  meantime,  the  capital  was  thrown 
into  a  state  of  the  wildest  alarm  ;  couriers  were  sent  off 
hither  and  thither,  the  bells  rung,  and  the  citizens  hurried 
to  the  entrenchments.  The  rebel  infantry  on  the  Chicka- 
hominy  were  hastened  up,  and  Kilpatrick  saw  with 
deep  sorrow,  that  the  project  on  which  he  had  set  his 
heart  must  be  abandoned,  and  he  reluctantly  gave  the 
order  to  retreat.  Falling  back,  he  swept  round  to  the 
Chickahominy,  and  crossing  it  at  Meadow  Bridge,  went 
into  camp  in  the  midst  of  a  driving  storm  of  sleet,  and 
hail,  and  snow,  which  drenched  and  chilled  to  the  bones 
the  exhausted,  disappointed  soldiers.  That  night,  how- 
ever, some  of  his  scouts  coming  in,  and  reporting  that 


DEATH    OF   DAHLGREN.  331 

they  had  actually  traversed  the  rebel  capital,  and  that  the 
troops  had  nearly  all  been  hurried  off  up  the  James,  and 
toward  the  Brook  turnpike,  leaving  only  a  small  picket 
on  the  Mechanicsville  road,  he  determined  to  make  one 
more  effort  to  reach  the  rebel  prisons.  A  thousand  men 
were  therefore  selected  and  divided  into  detachments, 
with  orders  to  charge  into  the  city  by  this  road,  over- 
power the  small  force  about  the  prisons,  and  then  dash 
back  and  join  the  main  body  again.  But  before  this 
plan  could  be  carried  out,  the  thunder  of  artillery  close 
at  hand  announced  that  his  camp  was  attacked.  Hamp- 
ton had  come  down  upon  him  with  a  heavy  force,  and 
now  for  hours  a  fierce,  irregular  fight  followed.  At 
length  the  enemy  was  repulsed,  when  Kilpatrick  moved 
off  to  Old  Church,  and  went  into  camp,  to  wait  the  return 
of  his  scattered  detachments.  He  remained  here  during  the 
entire  day  till  all  came  in,  except  Dahlgren.  At  length, 
hearing  that  the  latter  had  crossed  the  Pamunkey,  and 
was  making  his  way  toward  Gloucester  Point,  he  leisurely 
moved  down  the  peninsula  towards  Yorktown,  which  he 
safely  reached,  after  having  been  on  the  march  for  five 
days.  Dahlgren,  misled  by  a  negro  guide,  whom  he 
slew,  did  not  reach  the  appointed  place  in  time.  In  the 
darkness  of  the  night  he  came  within  hearing  of  the 
battle,  raging  around  Kilpatrick's  camp,  but  by  some 
fatality,  he,  with  a  hundred  men,  became  separated 
from  his  main  body,  and  was  compelled  to  fight  his 
way  till  he  got  within  three  miles  of  King  and  Queen 
Court-House.  Here,  ambuscaded  by  citizens  and  soldiers, 
he  was  shot  down,  and  all  but  seventeen  of  his  party 
killed  or  taken  prisoners.  His  body  was  buried  in  the 
middle  of  the  road  by  the  rebels,  to  show  their  savage 
hate,  and  otherwise  treated  with  brutal  malignity. 


&32  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSOE    KILPATRICK. 

Kilpatrick  now  performed  some  minor  raids ;  but  his 
daring  career  on  the  soil  of  Virginia  had  come  to  a  close. 
His  name,  for  two  years,  had  spread  terror  throughout 
the  State  ;  for,  like  Marion  and  his  troopers  of  old,  in 
South  Carolina,  he  and  his  bold  riders  came  to  be  looked 
upon  as  ubiquitous. 

His  boldness  and  success,  as  a  cavalry  leader,  pointed 
him  out  as  one  eminently  fitted  to  command  on  a  wider 
field,  and  he  was  sent  West  to  co-operate  with  Sherman,  in 
his  great  campaign  against  Atlanta.  When  the  army  com- 
menced its  onward  march,  he  led  the  advance,  but  in  the 
broken  country  through  which  it  fought  its  way,  the 
cavalry  could  do  but  little,  except  clear  the  roads  in 
front,  keep  up  communications  between  the  different 
columns,  and  protect  the  flanks.  At  Resaca,  however, 
an  opportunity  was  given  him  to  strike  one  of  his  heavy 
blows.  On  that  day,  as  he  dashed  forward,  he  passed 
Logan,  and  to  his  enquiry,  "  Where  are  you  going, 
general?"  replied,  "  No  skirmishing  to-day;  but  sabre 
charges  alone  shall  be  made."  He  had  been  directed 
to  drive  the  enemy  from  the  cross-roads,  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  Resaca,  and  as  he  approached  the  spot  he 
ordered  Colonel  Smith  to  charge  with  one  of  his  brigades. 
The  bugles  rang  out,  and  the  column  fell  furiously  on  the 
enemy ;  but  unable  to  pierce  the  lines,  recoiled  from  the 
shock  and  fell  back.  The  rebel  infantry,  elated  with  vic- 
tory, pressed  after  with  loud  shouts.  Kilpatrick  just  then 
riding  forward,  saw  with  astonishment  the  retreating 
brigade,  and  fired  at  the  sight,  ordered  up  a  fresh  one, 
and  rallying  the  disordered  troops,  ordered  the  charge  to 
be  sounded.  Riding  at  their  head,  he  fell  like  a  falling  rock 
on  the  exultant  enemy,  and  hurled  him  fiercely  back  be- 
yond the  important  point,  and  held  it.  But  he  fell  in  the 


DESPERATELY   WOUNDED.  333 

moment  of  victory,  desperately  wounded.  A  rifle  ball 
had  entered  the  groin,  and  almost  miraculously  escaping 
a  vital  point,  passed  out  of  the  hip.  Reeling  from  his 
saddle,  he  was  borne  bleeding,  fainting  to  the  rear.  It 
was  plain  that  if  he  recovered,  he  would  not  be  able 
again  to  enter  the  field  for  some  time,  and  therefore  as 
soon  as  he  was  strong  enough  to  be  moved,  he  returned 
to  his  home  on  the  Hudson,  to  recruit. 

Before  he  was  fit  again  to  take  the  saddle,  he  ascer- 
tained by  the  papers  that  Sherman  was  in  front  of  At- 
lanta, and  that  the  place  must  fall  in  a  few  days.  De- 
termined not  to  lose  the  glory  of  partaking  in  the  final 
movements  for  its  overthrow,  he  took  the  next  train,  and 
rode  night  and  day  till  he  reached  his  command  at 
Cartersville.  Still  unable  to  sit  on  his  horse  he  rode  for- 
ward in  a  carriage  fitted  up  for  him  by  his  command,  and 
joined  Sherman  before  Atlanta.  The  cavalry  was  much 
needed  in  breaking  up  the  railroads  that  supplied  the  city, 
and  at  once  entered  on  this  service.  Soon  all  were  cut 
except  the  one  leading  to  Macon.  To  destroy  it,  there- 
fore, was  now  the  chief  object  of  Sherman,  and  the  task 
was  assigned  to  Kilpatrick.  With  two  divisions  of  caval- 
ry and  eight  pieces  of  artillery  he  set  out  just  at  night 
from  his  camp,  and  sweeping  round  to  the  west  of  Atlanta, 
fighting  his  way  forward,  reached  the  Macon  railroad  in 
the  afternoon  the  next  day,  and  began  to  tear  up  the 
track.  The  enemy,  alarmed  at  his  audacious  movement, 
sent  out  a  heavy  force  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  which 
came  upon  him  just  before  midnight,  engaged  in  the  work 
of  destruction.  The  heavens  were  lurid  with  the  con- 
flagration, and  the  work  was  going  bravely  on,  when  the 
thunder  of  artillery  compelled  him  to  leave  his  task  but 
half  accomplished.  Repulsing  the  enemy,  he  made  a  wide 


334  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON  KILPATRICK. 

circuit,  and  struck  the  railroad  further  down  at  Love- 
joy's  Station.  But,  made  aware  of  his  movements,  the 
rebel  force,  by  keeping  straight  down  the  road,  was  able 
to  reach  the  threatened  point  before  him.  Foiled  here,  he 
began  to  cast  about  to  see  what  his  nextjnovement  should 
be,  when  he  discovered  that  the  way  by  which  he  had  come 
was  blocked  up,  while  various  forces  were  rapidly  ac- 
cumulating on  all  sides  of  him  to  secure  his  capture. 
Finding  he  had  got  to  cut  his  way  out,  he  formed  his 
command  into  six  columns,  and  sounding  the  charge 
made  straight  for  the  rebel  barricades  in  his  front.  Pour- 
ing like  a  torrent  over  these,  he  cut  down  the  astonished 
enemy  without  mercy,  and  drove  them  in  disorderly  flight 
on  every  side.  With  four  guns,  a  large  number  of  prison- 
ers, and  three  battle-flags  as  trophies  of  the  fight,  he  how 
moved  on  to  the  east  of  Atlanta,  and  finally  reached  the 
lines  at  Decatur,  having  made  the  entire  circuit  of  the 
city  and  Hood's  army. 

His  success,  however,  was  only  partial,  and  Sherman 
seeing  that  to  break  this  communication  permanently,  he 
must  transfer  his  army  to  it,  now  began  that  great  move- 
ment that  gave  us  Atlanta.  In  carrying  it  out  Kilpatrick 
operated  in  front  and  on  the  flank  of  Howard's  Army  of 
the  Tennessee. 

Before  entering  on  his  grand  expedition  across  the 
State  of  Georgia,  Sherman  had  a  review  of  Kilpatrick's 
cavalry,  on  which  he  knew  he  would  have  to  lean  so 
heavily  for  the  protection  of  his  flanks  in  his  long  march. 
Kilpatrick,  informed  of  the  General's  plans,  now  called  in 
his  detachments,  exchanged  poor  horses  for  good  ones, 
and  put  everything  in  as  complete  preparation  as  possible 
for  the  arduous  work  before  him.  When  all  were  as- 
sembled and  mounted,  he  found  he  had  five  thousand 


ACCOMPANIES   HOWARD.  335 

five  hundred  men,  with  six  pieces  of  artillery.  These  he  di- 
viSed  into  two  brigades  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  men 
each,  the  first  under  Colonel  Murray,  and  the  second 
under  Colonel  Atkins.  Before  starting,  he  invited  the 
officers  to  his  headquarters  to  a  social  entertainment,  when 
he  addressed  them  in  his  glowing  style,  and  animated  all 
with  a  spirit  of  emulation. 

In  the  march,  Kilpatrick  accompanied  the  right  wing 
of  the  army,  under  Howard,  which  moved  down  the 
Macon  road,  called  the  Georgia  Central,  in  two  columns. 
He  had  hardly  left  Atlanta  before  he  came  upon  the 
pickets  of  the  enemy,  who  had  been  hanging  around  the 
place.  Scattering  these  from  his  path,  he  drove  them 
through  Eastport  and  Jonesboro,  .and  pressing  on,  came 
upon  the  enemy  two  or  three  thousand  strong  at  Love- 
joy's,  occupying  the  old  rebel  works  there.  Without 
waiting  to  reconnoitre  and  turn  the  position  he  charged  the 
barricades,  driving  the  enemy  pell-mell  from  them,  killing 
fifty  and  capturing  two  guns  which  the  rebels  had  taken 
from  Stoneman.  From  thence  he  moved  down  the  road, 
the  infantry  following  leisurely,  until  he  came  on  Wheel- 
er's cavalry,  at  Bear  Creek,  ten  miles  from  Griffin. 
Driving  them  back  to  Barnesville,  he  attacked  them  again, 
compelling  them  to  take  refuge  in  Macon. 

Howard  now  approached  the  Ocmulgee,  and  it  was 
necessary  that  his  movements  should  be  covered,  while  he 
effected  a  crossing.  To  do  this,  Kilpatrick  took  his  cavalry 
over,  and  marched  to  Griswoldsville,  ten  miles  east  of 
Macon,  when  he  wheeled  about  and  moved  boldly 
back  on  the  place.  There  was  a  large  army  here,  and  the 
object  of  Kilpatrick  was  to  keep  it  there  to  defend  the 
town,  till  Howard  could  get  beyond  it  on  his  march  toward 
Milledgeville.  By  his  bold  and  skilful  movements  he 


336  MAJOR-GENERAL    HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

succeeded  admirably,  for  in  a  succession  of  rapid  advances 
he  drove  in  the  rebel  outlying  picket  posts  and  forced  the 
enemy  back  to  East  Macon,  two  miles  from  the  city.  Not 
satisfied  with  this,  a  brigade  charged  the  rebel  line,  and 
one  regiment,  the  Tenth  Ohio,  dashing  across  an  interven- 
ing creek  burst  with  wild  clamor  up  the  hill  beyond,  on 
which  the  earthworks  were,  and  drove  the  artillerymen 
and  infantry  from  their  posts.  This  bold  movement  con- 
firmed the  rebel  commanders  in  their  opinion,  that  Macon 
was  to  be  attacked,  and  the  army  was  kept  busy  on  the 
fortifications,  and  in  a  constant  state  of  alarm  by  the 
sound  of  Kilpatrick's  bugles.  Howard,  in  the  meantime, 
quietly  slipped  by  and  was  miles  away  before  the  rebels 
woke  up  to  the  clever  trick  that  had  been  played  upon 
them. 

While  a  part  of  the  cavalry  was  thus  keeping  the 
rebel  army  in  Macon  in  constant  fear  of  an  attack, 
another  portion  destroyed  depots,  a  foundry,  chemical 
works,  and  other  public  buildings  at  Griswoldsville,  and 
then  working  eastward,  tore  up  the  railroad  as  they  ad- 
vanced. 

After  the  short  rest  at  Milledgeville,  the  army  moved 
on,  and  now  began  the  real  hard  work  of  the  cavalry 
during  the  campaign.  Its  chief  business  thus  far  had 
been  to  destroy,  but  Wheeler's  cavalry  had  become  so 
formidable  in  numbers  that,  from  this  time  on,  it  re- 
quired all  Kilpatrick's  attention.  The  Savannah  railroad 
runs  north  from  Millen  to  Augusta,  about  midway  be- 
tween which  is  Waynesboro.  While  the  army  was  mov- 
ing in  a  somewhat  southeasterly  direction  toward  this 
place,  Kilpatrick  was  sent  forward  on  the  road  to  Waynes- 
boro, which  was  the  proper  route  to  Augusta,  in  order  to 
confirm  the  impression  of  the  rebel  commanders  that  it 


DEFEAT  OF  WHEELER.  337 

was  the  point  aimed  at  by  Sherman.  A  large  army  was 
here  also,  and  it  was  important  it  should  remain  in  its 
position,  till  it  was  effectually  cut  off  from  Savannah. 
At  Sandersville,  Wheeler  made  a  stand,  but  after  some 
sharp  skirmishing,  fell  back  toward  Waynesboro.  Almost 
every  day  now  there  was  severe  fighting.  On  the  29th, 
Wheeler  suddenly  assumed  the  offensive,  and  made  a 
furious  attack  on  Kilpatrick.  The  latter  had  thrown  up 
barricades,  and,  a  part  of  his  force  using  the  Spencer  rifles, 
received  his  adversary  with  a  murderous  fire,  and  stub- 
bornly held  him  at  bay,  killing  and  wounding  two  or 
three  hundred  men,  with  a  small  loss  to  himself.  Falling 
back  to  Louisville,  on  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  he  rested 
for  one  day,  and  on  .the -next,  again  moved  off  toward 
Waynesboro.  Reaching  the  railroad  a  few  miles  south  of 
it,  at  Thomas'  Station,  he  broke  it  up.  The  next  day  he 
moved  against  Wheeler,  and  attacking  him  with  fury  be- 
hind his  barricades,  forced  him  to  flight.  For  two  days, 
the  3d  and  4th,  he  fought  him  with  such  determination, 
that  the  rebel  chieftain  gave  up  all  hope  of  arresting  our 
progress.  Having  accomplished  his  object,  viz.,  to  keep 
the  rebel  army  shut  up  in  Augusta,  Kilpatrick  gathered 
up  his  dead  and  wounded,  numbering  about  sixty,  and 
wheeling  south,  now  joined  Sherman  at  Millen.  From 
this  point,  on  to  Savannah,  seventy-five  Tniles  distant,  the 
cavalry,  divided  into  two  portions,  marched  in  front  and 
rear  of  the  army.  Hitherto  it  had  seemed  to  the  aston- 
ished iii  habitants  to  be  everywhere,  and  burning  cotton, 
blazing  depots,  foundries,  mills,  and  workshops,  and 
smoking  railroads  in  all  directions,  had  so  completely  con- 
fused and  bewildered  the  rebel  leaders,  that  they  did  not 
know  where  to  concentrate  their  forces.  While  watching 
for  Kilpatrick  in  one  place,  he  struck  them  in  another ; 


338  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

all  the  time  stretching  such  an  impenetrable  curtain  along 
the  flanks  of  the  main  army,  that  its  movements  were 
shrouded  in  complete  mystery.  Detachments  sent  off  in 
all  directions  had  threatened  every  possible  point  almost 
at  the  same  time,  and  for  nearly  five  hundred  miles  his 
bold  troopers  had  ridden  without  let  or  hindrance  over 
the  astonished  country.  Their  bugle  blasts  by  night  and 
day  had  roused  up  the  solitary  planter,  the  quiet  rural 
village,  and  the  busy  town  alike,  till  his  gay  and  reckless 
squadrons  seemed  in  the  eyes  of  the  inhabitants  to  fill  all 
the  State. 

But  from  Millen  to  Savannah  they  marched  in  mass, 
and  kept  step  to  the  leisurely  movements  of  the  army. 
Through  the  broad  pine  barrens,  in  front  and  rear,  their 
bugles  awoke  the  still  echoes,  and  cheered  the  long  march, 
until  the  spires  of  Savannah  rose  to  view,  and  its  work 
was  accomplished. 

In  summing  up  his  operations,  Kilpatrick  said  that 
the  enemy's  cavalry  had  not  been  able  even  once  to  reach 
the  trains  in  the  rear  or  flank  of  either  infantry  column. 
"We  have,"  said  he,  "three  times  crossed  from  left  to 
right  in  front  of  our  army,  and  have  marched  upwards 
of  five  hundred  and  forty-one  miles  since  the  15th  day  of 
November,  and  have  destroyed  fourteen  hundred  bales  of 
cotton,  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  cotton  gins,  and 
much  other  valuable  property ;  captured  two  3-inch  rifled 
guns,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three  stands  of  small  arms, 
and  killed  and  wounded  and  disabled  not  less  than  fifteen 
hundred  of  the  enemy,"  while  his  own  loss  was  but  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five.  Sherman,  in  a  letter  to  him, 
dated  in  front  of  Savannah,  complimented  him  highly, 
saying,  among  other  things,  "  But  the  fact  that  to  you,  in 
a  great  measure,  we  owe  the  march  of  four  strong  infan- 


AUGUSTA  THREATENED.  339 

try  columns,  with  heavy  teams  and  wagons,  over  three 
hundred  miles  through  an  enemy's  country,  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  wagon/ and  without  the  annoyance  of 
cavalry  dashes  on  our  flanks,  is  honor  enough  for  any 
cavalry  commander." 

While  at  Savannah  he  received  the  appointment  of 
Major-General. 

When  Sherman,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  marched  out 
of  Savannah  to  traverse  the  two  Carolinas,  he  was  sent 
off  on  his  old  mission  of  making  feints  and  distracting 
and  dividing  the  rebel  forces.  Slocum,  as  we  have  seen, 
marched  up  the  Savannah,  and  crossed  at  Sisters1  Ferry. 
Kilpatrick  crossed  behind  him,  and  at  once  marched  for 
the  Charleston  and  Augusta  Railroad,  striking  it  at  Black- 
ville,  and  driving  his  old  enemy,  Wheeler,  over  the 
Edisto.  He  then  took  the  track,  and  moved  off  toward 
Augusta,  destroying  it  as  he  advanced.  The  enemy  was 
not  certain  whether  Sherman  intended  to  attack  Augusta 
first,  or  move  directly  north  toward  Columbia ;  but  sus- 
pecting he  would  take  the  latter  course,  had  all  the 
bridges  and  crossings  of  the  Edisto  well  guarded.  But 
Kilpatrick's  steady  approach  toward  Augusta  alarmed 
Wheeler,  arid  when  the  former  had  got  well  up  toward 
the  place  he  abandoned  the  Edisto,  and  by  marching 
night  and  day  reached  Aiken,  a  few  miles  out  of  the  city, 
first,  and  supported  by  an  infantry  force  under  Cheatham, 
disputed  his  further  progress.  Kilpatrick  at  once  com- 
menced skirmishing  with  him,  and  kept  it  up  for  two 
days.  All  this  time  Sherman's  columns  were  pouring 
across  the  Edisto,  and  heading  straight  for  Columbia. 
Kilpatrick  having  accomplished  the  object  he  sought^ 
suddenly  broke  up  camp,  and  moving  swiftly  north, 

threw  himself  between    the   enemy   and   Columbia,   so 
•    22 


340  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH   JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

that  the  latter  could  not  reach  it  except  by  a  wide  circuit 
westward. 

When  Sherman  reached  Columbia,  the  enemy  remain 
ed  just  as  much  in  the  dark  respecting  the  point  he  would 
next  strike  as  they  were  when  he  left  Savannah ;  not  know- 
ing whether  he  would  move  east  to  effect  a  junction  with  the 
columns  marching  up  from  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  or 
keep  on  north  toward  Charlotte.  To  delude  the  rebel  leader 
into  the  belief  that  he  was  aiming  at  the  latter  place,  Kil- 
patrick  was  sent  off  toward  it,  and  manoeuvred  so  that 
it  was  thought  the  army  was  advancing  in  that  direction. 
For  a  whole  day,  he  marched  parallel  to  and  within  three 
miles  of  Cheatham's  infantry,  moving  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Meanwhile,  Sherman  was  pushing  his  columns 
toward  Fayetteville.  The  result  was,  Beauregard  kept 
his  army  massed  at  Charlotteville,  till  our  army  had 
safely  crossed  the  Pedee. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  without  an  accompanying 
map  on  a  large  scale,  the  various  movements  of  the  cav- 
,alry,  while  thus  operating  on  the  left  flank  of  Sherman's 
afrny. 

About  this  time  Kilpatrick  was  informed  that  our  sol- 
-diers  were  killed  by  the  rebels  after  they  had  surrendered : 
"In  one  case  (he  says),  a  lieutenant  and  seven  men ;  in  ano- 
ther, nine  cavalrymen  were  found  murdered ;  five  in  a  barn- 
yard, three  in  a  field,  and  one  in  the  road;  two  with  their 
throats  cut  from  ear  to  ear."  He  at  once  wrote  to 
Wheeler,  closing  his  letter  in  the  following  language: 
lU  Unless  some  satisfactory  explanation  be  made  to  me 
before  sundown,  February  23d,  I  will  cause  eighteen  of 
your  soldiers,  now  my  prisoners,  to  be  shot  at  that  hour ; 
and  if  this  cowardly  act  be  repeated,  if  my  men  when 
taken  are  not  treated  in  all  cases  as  prisoners  of  war 


RETALIATION.  341 

should  be,  I  will  not  only  retaliate  as  I  have  already  men- 
tioned, but  there  shall  not  be  left  a  house  standing  within 
reach  of  my  scouting  parties  along  my  line  of  march ;  nor 
will  I  be  answerable  for  the  conduct  of  my  soldiers,  who 
will  not  only  be  allowed,  but  encouraged  to  take  a  fear- 
ful revenge.  I  know  of  no  other  way  to  intimidate 
cowards."  To  this  Wheeler  replied,  that  he  "  was  shock- 
ed  at  his  statements,"  and  declared  that  it  must  be  a  mis- 
take, and  promised  to  "have  the  matter  investigated. v 
Kilpatrick,  on  this  representation,  said  he  would  "take 
no  action  for  the  present."  The  rebels,  however,  were 
taught  that  a  course  of  brutality  was  a  hazardous  game 
to  play  at,  and  certain  to  be  a  losing  one  to  them. 

Hampton,  who  had  joined  Wheeler,  and  who  was 
soon  placed  in  command  of  all  the  rebel  cavalry  operating 
against  our  army,  now  /tried  hard  to  reach  Fay ett evilly 
whither  Hardee  was  marching  in  his  retreat  from  Char- 
leston. Kilpatrick  at  once  determined,  if  possible,  to  cut 
oif  the  formef.  Finding  that  he  was  moving  on  two  par- 
allel roads,  he  posted  upon  each,  a  brigade  of  cavalry  ;  but 
hearing  there  was  still  another  road  farther  north,  along 
which  a  part  might  pass,  he  took  three  regiments,  400 
dismounted  men,  and  a  section  of  artillery,  and  by  a 
rapid  night-march  reached  it,  and  took  post  in  advance, 
where  it  intersected  the  Morgantown  road,  farther  south, 
Here  he  came  very  near  ending  his  career.  Hampton, 
made  aware  of  his  movements,  broke  away  from  the  main 
column  of  Kilpatrick  farther  south,  and  by  a  rapid,  forced 
march,  came  upon  the  camp  of  the  latter  just  before  day- 
light. The  blast  of  his  bugles  was  the  first  announce- 
ment of  his  presence,  and  while  the  charge  was  still  peal- 
ing, he  burst  with  three  divisions  into  the  panic-stricken 
camp,  and  swept  it  in  one  wild  rush.  It  was  a  sudden 


342  MAJOR-GENERAL  *HJJGH   JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

/ 

whirlwind,  for  in  one  minute  after  the  first  bugle-blast 
and  shout,  the  whole  command  was  flying  terror-stricken 
through  the  gloom.  Kilpatrick's  headquarters  were 
swept  in  a  twinkling,  his  aids  captured,  his  artillery 
taken,  and  he  himself  compelled  to  flee  on  foot  for  his 
life.  Dashing  in  amid  his  cavalrymen,  whose  camp  was 
in  the  rear  of  that  of  the  infantry,  he  found  them  fighting 
for  their  horses,  but  leader  and  all  were  again  borne 
away  in  the  maddened  torrent,  and  driven  into  an  im- 
penetrable swamp.  This  was  a  miserable  plight  for  the 
foremost  cavalry  officer  of  the  day,  and  a  major-general 
to  boot ;  his  headquarters  and  camp  all  gone,  and  he 
himself  with  his  scattered  followers  floundering  amid 
darkness  in  a  swamp  that  could  not  be  crossed.  To  all 
human  appearance,  Kilpatrick's  ride  through  the  Caro- 
linas  had  come  to  ati  ignoble  end.  But  one  of  t  his  strik- 
ing peculiarities  is  that  he  never  admits  any  condition 
to  be  so  desperate  that  it  cannot  be  remedied,  and,  like 
General  Taylor,  he  never  knows  when  he  is  beaten. 
Casting  about  him,  he  resolved,  with  his  mere  handful 
of  men,  to  retake  his  camp,  and  give  the  enemy  battle. 
Peering  out  from  his  hiding  place,  he  found  the  victors 
were  wholly  taken  up  with  plundering  his  camp,  and, 
rallying  his  men,  he  charged  first  on  the  cavalry  camp. 
The  rebels,  who  expected  to  see  no  more  of  the  enemy, 
were  taken  by  surprise,  and  driven  back  on  the  other 
portion  of  their  force.  Taking  advantage  of  this  sudden 
success,  and  enraged  at  the  sight  of  the  rebels  plundering 
his  headquarters  and  harnessing  up  his  battery  horses, 
in  order  to  carry  off  his  artillery,  he  ordered  the  charge 
to  sound,  and,  himself  leading,  fell  so  furiously  on  them 
that  they  recoiled  in  astonishment.  Seizing  the  guns  al- 
ready loaded,  he  wheeled  them  quick  as  thought  on  the 


DEFEAT  AND  VICTORY.  343 

dense  mass  around  his  headquarters,  now  looming  through 
the  darkness,  within  close  pistol-shot.  A  sudden  blaze, 
a  roar,  and  that  mass  was  rent  as  by  a  thunderbolt 
Dismay  and  confusion  seized  on  the  disorganized,  half- 
dismounted  crowd.  Kilpatrick  gave  them  no  time  to 
rally,  but  pouring  in  the  grape,  and  charging  like  fire  on 
their  half-completed  formations,  he,  with  his  little  band, 
forced  them  back,  and  though  they  outnumbered  him 
three  to  one,  finally  turned  them  in  flight,  leaving  the 
ground  heaped  with  over  a  hundred  slain.  The  prisoners 
and  artillery  were  recaptured,  and  the  men  overwhelmed 
and  vanquished  a  moment  before,  now  stood  up  in  the 
early  daylight,  and  shouted  victory.  So  unexpected  was 
the  onset,  so  swift  the  overthrow,  so  sudden  and  complete 
the  victory,  that  it  all  seemed  more  like  a  passing  vision 
than  a  reality.  But  the  dead  and  wounded,  strewing 
the  red  and  trampled  earth  like  autumn  leaves,  with 
gaping  sabre-wounds  and  forms  rent  into  shreds  by  the 
artillery,  made  a  real,  though  sickening,  sight  in  the  light 
of  that  wintry  morning.  Kilpatrick,  as  he  rested  from 
that  morning's  hard  work,  felt  a  glow  of  triumph  greater 
than  if  he  had  won  a  pitched  battle,  for  he  had  snatched 
victory  out  of  the  very  jaws  of  destruction ;  and  from  the 
abyss  of  despair,  vaulted  with  a  single  bound  to  the  sum- 
mit of  exultation.  It  was  a  narrow  escape,  and  a  most 
wonderful  success.  Not  one  commander  in  a  thousand 
would  have  done  what  he  did. 

Kilpatrick  now  moved  to  Fayetteville,  where  he 
rested  his  command  for  a  few  days,  and  then  crossing  the 
river,  moved  off  toward  Raleigh,  in  advance  of  two  di- 
visions of  infantry.  When  within  six  miles  of  Averys- 
borc(,  he  met  a  heavy  force  of  rebel  infantry,  moving 
down  the  road  in  line  of  battle.  Quickly  dismounting  a 


344  MAJOR-GENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

part  of  liis  force  to  keep  the  enemy  in  check,  he  took  a 
hasty  survey  of  the  ground  around  him.  Near  him  was 
a  broad,  deep  ravine,  with  one  extremity  running  into  a 
river,  and  the  other  into  a  swamp.  His  officers  urged 
him  to  fall  back  behind  this  strong  position  ;  but  he  saw 
with  his  quick  intuition,  that  this  was  unquestionably  the 
very  point  the  rebel  force  was  marching  for — once 
firmly  posted  here,  it  could  keep  an  advancing  army  at 
bay  for  a  long  time.  "  No,"  said  he,  "  General  Sherman 
must  pass  this  way  to-morrow  ;  if  the  enemy  secure  this 
ravine,  it  will  take  the  whole  army  to  dislodge  him. 
This  must  be  prevented  if  possible,  and  we  will  fight 
right  here  ;  we  may  get  the  worst  of  it ;  but  the  enemy 
shall  not  hold  this  ravine  if  the  cavalry  can  prevent  it.11* 
Hurrying  off  swift  riders  to  Slocum,  six  miles  in  the 
rear,  he  dismounted  his  men,  and  throwing  up  a  hasty 
breastwork  of  rails,  brush  and  trees,  coolly  awaited  the 
onset.  The  rebels  opened  with  artillery,  and  Kilpatrick  re- 
plied, and  by  his  splendid  firing,  and  skilful  management, 
held  the  enemy  in  check  till  darkness  put  an  end  to  the 
conflict.  In  the  meantime,  Slocum,  urged  by  his  dis- 
patches, sent  forward  a  brigade,  which  making  a  forced 
march  over  the  muddy  roads  and  swampy  fields,  arrived 
before  morning.  Thus  reinforced,  Kilpatrick  moved  out 
of  his  extemporized  works  at  daylight,  and  advanced 
upon  the  enemy.  A  severe  fight  followed,  in  which  the 
rebels  were  driven  out  of  their  first  line  of  works,  with 
the  loss  of  three  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the  meantime, 
Slocum  himself  came  up  and  took  command,  and  the 
snemy*  was  repulsed. 

This  was   the  last  battle  of  the  campaign  in  which 

*  See  Life  of  Kilpatrick. 


HIS  CHARACTER.  345 

Kilpatrick1s  cavalry  took  an  active  part,  and  here  he  rested 
on  his  laurels.  He  issued  an  address  to  his  troops,  closing 
with  the  following  words :  "  Soldiers,  be  proud !  Of  all 
the  brave  men  of  this  great  army  you  have  a  right  to  be. 
You  have  won  the  admiration  of^our  infantry,  fighting 
on  foot  and  mounted,  and  you  will  receive  the  outspoken 
words  of  praise  from  the  great  Sherman  himself.  He 
appreciates  and  will  reward  your  patient  endurance  of 
hardships,  gallant  deeds,  and  valuable  services.  With 
the  old  laurels  of  Georgia  entwine  those  won  in  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  proudly  wear  them.  General  Sherman  is 
satisfied  with  his  cavalry" 

Though  but  a  youth,  still  Kilpatrick  has  won  a  world- 
wide reputation.  He  is  in  every  respect  fitted  for  a  cav- 
alry commander,  for  he  has  all  the  dash  necessary  to 
success,  and  that  chivalrous  daring  which  wins  the  admi- 
ration and  love  of  the  common  soldier.  Possessed  of  a 
fertility  of  resource  seldom  found,  he  is  equal  to  every 
emergency,  and  sees  the  way  to  success  where  other  men 
would  perceive  only  certain  ruin.  A  bold,  fearless  rider, 
he  never  asks  his  men  to  go  where  he  dare  not  lead 
Nervous  and  excitable,  he  has  the  power  of  electrifying 
his  troops  with  thrilling  appeals,  and  in  the  "  high  places 
of  the  field,"  and  in  the  perilous  onset,  he  flames  at  the 
head  of  his  column  like  a  being  from  another  sphere.  A 
rigid  disciplinarian,  he  yet  knows  when  to  slacken  the 
reins,  while  his  tender  care  of  his  soldiers  binds  them 
to  him  by  love  instead  of  fear.  To  see  him  sometimes 
amid  his  cavalrymen,  one  would  think  from  the  freedom 
of  manner  and  language  he  allows,  that  he  would  have 
no  control  over  them.  But  just  let  them  hear  once  the 
rallying  call  of  his  bugle,  and  that  impression  would 
vanish  in  a  twinkling.  When  the  hour  for  duty  comes. 


346  MAJOKrGENERAL   HUGH  JUDSON   KILPATRICK. 

each  man  leaps  to  his  place,  knowing  that  hesitation  or 
delay  would  meet  with  swift  punishment.  He  has  a  rare 
combination  of  qualities ;  for  while  bold  and  daring,  even 
to  apparent  rashness,  he  is  nevertheless  prudent  and  sa- 
gacious, and  when  seemingly  acting  from  mere  excite- 
ment or  impulse,  is  nevertheless  governed  by  the  most 
careful  calculations  and  true  forethought. 

Small  in  stature,  with  light  complexion  and  eyes,  he 
has  nothing  imposing  either  in  his  appearance  or  costume. 
Like  the  first  Napoleon,  who  had  the  sense  to  perceive 
that  splendor  of  attire  would  not  become  him,  Kilpa- 
trick  never  affects  the  showy  commander.  When  on  a 
raid  or  campaign,  as  far  as  appearance  goes,  he  might 
pass  for  a  corporal  or  sergeant.  He  believes  in  deeds, 
not  words — power,  not  pomp.  Of  great  business  tact 
and  ability  himself,  he  surrounds  himself  with  working 
men.  He  leaves  to  fancy  generals  the  business  of  seek- 
ing to  have  their  deeds  emblazoned  by  correspondents, 
and  writes  his  own  record  with  his  sword.  Unostenta- 
tious and  kind,  he  shows  that  he  possesses  a  strong  head, 
or  it  would  have  been  turned  by  his  sudden  elevation 
while  so  young. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEAPE. 

fflS  CAREER  FURNISHING  BUT  PEW  STRIKING  POINTS  TO  A  BIOGRAPHEK— 
HIS  BIRTH— GRADUATES  AT  WEST  POINT — SERVES  IN  THE  MEXICAN  WAR — 
PROMOTED  FOR  GALLANT  CONDUCT  IN  THE  BATTLE  OF  MONTEREY — MADE 
BRIGADIER  OF  VOLUNTEERS  SOON  AFTER  THE  BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE 
WAR — COMMANDS  A  FORAGING  EXPEDITION  NEAR  DRAINSVILLE — HIS 
CAREER  ON  THE  PENINSULA — IS  DESPERATELY  WOUNDED  IN  THE  BATTLE 
OF  GLENDALE — SERVES  UNDER  HOOKER  AT  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN  AND  ANTIE- 
TAM — HIS  BRILLIANT  CHARGE  AT  THE  LATTER  PLACE — AFTER  HOOKER 
IS  WOUNDED  ASSUMES  COMMAND  OF  THE  CORPS — AT  CHANCELLORSVILLE — 
APPOINTED  TO  THE  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC — HIS 
MODEL  ORDER — PURSUIT  OF  LEE — BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG HEAD- 
QUARTERS UNDER  FIRE — THE  VICTORY — THE  PURSUIT — STRANGE  INAO 
TION  IN  FRONT  OF  LEE — CROSSES  THE  POTOMAC — OUTMARCHED  BY  LEE 
— COMPELLED  TO  RETREAT  TO  BULL  RUN — ADVANCES  TO  THE  RAPPA- 
HANNOCK — VARIOUS  DETACHED  CONFLICTS — WINTER  QUARTERS — GRANT 
PLACES  HIMSELF  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC — GRANT 
AND  MEADE  TOGETHER — CHARACTER  OF  THE  LATTER. 

IT  is  seldom  that  a  man  occupies,  while  momentous 
events  are  transpiring,  so  eminent  a  position  as  General 
Meade  has  done,  about  whose  personal  conduct  as  a  mili- 
tary man  so  little  can  be  said.  Not  belonging  to  the  dash- 
ing school  of  generals,  he,  at  the  outset,  was  distinguished 
only  for  always  doing  his  duty  and  doing  it  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  those  under  whom  he  served.  As  com- 
mander of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  won  a  world- 


848  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   G.    MEADE. 

wide  fame  by  his  defeat  of  Lee  at  Gettysburg,  but  since 
that  time,  though  nominally  still  its  head,  the  pres- 
ence and  superior  rank  of  Grant  have  entirely  over- 
shadowed his  actions,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  him 
his  fair  proportion  of  merit-.  Where  to  draw  the  line 
between  the  two,  during  the  eventful  year  that  elapsed 
between  the  crossing  of  the  Rapidan  and  the  surrender  of 
Lee's  army,  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  The  relations 
of  the  two  to  the  Grand  Army  cannot  be  clearly  defined, 
and  as  all  the  great  movements  must  be  primarily  referred 
to  Grant,  to  speak  of  them  a  second  time  in  reference  to 
Meade,  would  be  a  mere  repetition.  Hence,  though  he 
occupied  so  high  a  position,  it  is  difficult  to  give  him  a 
separate  place  in  any  one  of  the  movements  made. 

His  parents,  though  Americans,  were  in  Spain  when 
he  was  born,  in' the  year  1816.  He  entered  West  Point 
from  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  graduated  in  1839, 
receiving  the  appointment  of  second  lieutenant  in  the  Third 
Artillery.  After  some  time  he  resigned  his  commission, 
and  was  appointed  in  May,  1842,  second  lieutenant  in  the 
Topographical  Engineers.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Mexican  war,  he  was  ordered  to  the  army  of  General 
Taylor,  and  for  his  gallantry  at  Monterey  received  the 
brevet  of  first  lieutenant.  In  August,  1851,  he  was  made 
full  lieutenant,  and  five  years  after,  captain. 

The  next  month  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  he  was 
promoted  to  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and  com- 
manded a  brigade  in  McCalFs  division  of  Pennsylvania 
volunteers,  that  was  so  long  stationed  up  the  Potomac, 
near  Drainsville.  While  here  he  commanded  a  success- 
ful foraging  expedition  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place. 

On  the  Peninsula,  we  find  him  fighting  bravely  at 
Games'  Mill,  and  in  the  fearful  battle  of  Glendaie,  in  the 


A   GALLANT   CHARGE.  349 

White  Oak  Swamp,  he  was  borne,  desperately  wounded, 
from  the  field. 

On  his  recovery,  he  again  joined  the  army,  and  in 
McClellan's  celebrated  campaign  against  Lee  in  Maryland, 
commanded  a  division  in  Hooker's  corps.  In  the  battle 
of  South  Mountain,  McClellan  speaks  of  him  as  "  gal- 
lantly driving  the*  enemy  on  the  right."  At  Aritietam, 
Meade  held  the  centre,  and  made  that  terrific  charge 
early  in  the  day,  which  at  first  drove  the  rebels.  The  war 
correspondent  of  the  Tribune  thus  describes  it :  "  The 
half  hour  passed  and  the  rebels  began  to  give  way  a  little, 
and  only  a  little  ;  but  at  the  first  indication  of  a  receding 
fire,  4  forward,'  was  the  word,  and  on  went  the  line  with 
a  cheer  and  a  rush.  Back  across  the  corn-field,  leaving 
dead  and  wounded  behind  them,  over  the/ence  and  across 
the  road  and  then  back  again  into  the  dark  wood,  which 
closed  around  them,  went  the  retreating  rebels.  Meade 
and  his  Pennsylvanians  followed  hard  and  fast — followed 
till  they  came  within  easy  range  of  the  woods,  among 
which  they  saw  their  beaten  enemy  disappearing — follow- 
ed still  with  another  cheer,  and  flung  themselves  against 
the  cover. 

"But  out  of  these  gloomy  woods  came  suddenly  and 
heavily,  terrible  volleys,  volleys  which  smote  and  bent  and 
broke  in  a  moment  that  eager  front,  and  hurled  them  swiftly 
back  for  half  the  distance  they  had  won.  Not  swiftly  nor 
in  panic  any  further.  Closing  up  their  shattered  lines, 
they  came  slowly  away,  a  regiment  where  a  brigade 
had  been ;  hardly  a  brigade  where  a  whole  division  had 
been,  victorious.  They  had  met  at  the  woods  the  first 
volleys  of  musketry  from  fresh  troops — had  met  and  re- 
turned them  till  their  line  had  yielded,  and  gone  down 
before  the  weight  of  fire,  and  till  their  ammunition  was 


350  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE    G.    MEADE. 

exhausted."  Meade  behaved  with  great  gallantry  in  this 
crisis,  and  rode  among  his  shaking  ranks,  steadying  them 
by  ais  presence  and  words,  showing  that  he  was  worthy 
to  command  that  immortal  body  of  troops,  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Reserves.  When  Hooker  was  wounded,  he,  being 
the  senior  in  rank,  took  command  of  the  corps. 

After  the  battle,  in  reporting  the  tieavy  loss  in  the 
corps,  he  said,  "I  am  satisfied  the  great  reduction  in  the 
corps  since  the  recent  engagement,  is  not  due  solely  to  the 
casualties  of  battle,  and  that  a  considerable  number  of 
men  are  still  in  the  rear,  some  having  dropped  out  on  the 
march,  and  many  dispersing  and  leaving  yesterday  dur- 
ing the  fight  I  think  the  efficiency  of  the  corps,  so  far 
as  it  goes,  good,"  &c. 

He  was  Hooker's  right-hand  man,  in  the  disastrous 
battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  after  the  removal  of  the 
former  from  the  head  of  the  army,  was  put  in  his  place. 
His  appointment  at  the  time  took  the  country  by  surprise, 
as  but  little  had  been  heard  of  him.  His  merits,  how- 
ever, were  well  known  to  the  Department,  but  his  selection 
was  probably  owing  to  his  being  next  in  rank  to  Hooker, 
in  the  command  of  the  corps. 

It  was  a  trying  position,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
place  him  in.  The  army  was  on  the  march,  seeking  a 
battle-field  on  which  to  settle  the  fate  of  Washington  and 
Maryland,  and  probably  of  Philadelphia.  Still,  no  one 
probably  in  that  army  so  well  understood  its  organization 
at  that  time  as  he,  from  his  position,  necessarily  did. 

His  order  on  assuming,  without  a  moment's  warning, 
this  responsible  position,  is  a  model  one.  He  says: 

"  By  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  I  hereby  assume 
command  of  the  Array  of  the  Potomac.  As  a  soldier  in  obeying  this 
order,  an  order  totally  unexpected  and  unsolicited,  I  have  no  promises  or 


A   MODEL  OEDEE.  351 

pledge  to  make.  The  country  looks  to  this  army  to  relieve  it  from  the  devas- 
tation and  disgrace  of  a  hostile  invasion.  "Whatever  fatigues  and  sacrifices 
we  may  be  called  upon  to  undergo,  let  us  have  in  view  constantly  the  magni- 
tude of  the  interests  involved,  and  let  each  man  determine  to  do  his  duty, 
leaving  to  an  all-controlling  Providence  the  decision  of  the  contest.  It  is 
with  just  diffidence  that  I  relieve  in  command  of  this  army  an  eminent 
and  accomplished  soldier,  whose  name  must  ever  he  conspicuous  in  the 
history  of  its  achievements ;  but  I  rely  upon  the  hearty  support  of  my 
companions  in  arms,  to  assist  me  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the 
important  trust  which  has  been  confided  to  me. 

"GEORGE  G.  MEADE, 
"  Major-General  Commanding." 

He  issued  also  the  following  circular  to  the  army: 
"  The  Commanding  General  requests  that  previous  to  the 
engagement  soon  expected  with  the  enemy,  corps  and  all 
other  commanding  officers  address  their  troops,  and  ex- 
plain to  them  the  immense  issues  involved  in  the  strug- 
gle. The  enemy  is  now  on  our  soil.  The  whole  country 
looks  anxiously  to  this  army  to  deliver  it  from  the  pre- 
sence of  the  foe.  Our  failure  to  do  so  will  leave  us  no 
such  welcome  as  the  swelling  of  millions  of  hearts  with 
pride  and  joy  at  our  success  would  give  to  every  soldier 
of  the  army.  Homes,  firesides  and  domestic  altars  are  in- 
volved. The  army  has  fought  well  heretofore.  It  is 
believed  that  it  will  fight  more  bravely  than  ever  if  it  is 
addressed  in  fitting  terms.  Corps  and  other  commanders 
are  authorized  to  order  the  instant  death  of  any  soldier 
who  fails  to  do  his  duty  at  this  hour.1' 

Instead  of  following  up  the  enemy  directly  in  his 
rear,  he  marched  parallel  with  him — the  Cumberland 
Mountains  separating  the  two  armies.  Hearing  that  Lee 
was  debouching  through  the  mountains  near  Gettysburg, 
he  ordered  General  Reynolds,  in  advance,  to  occupy  the 
place.  The  latter  met  the  enemy  here,  and  in  the  con- 
flict that  followed,  fell  mortally  wounded,  while  our  forces 


352  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   G.    MEADE. 

were  defeated  and  driven  back  through  Gettysburg,  with 
the  loss  of  some  two  thousand  prisoners.  General  How- 
ard, who  had  arrived  on  the  field  during  the  action,  and 
assumed  command,  withdrew  the  troops  to  the  strong 
position  of  Cemetery  Hill. 

The  moment  the  news  of  Keynolds1  death  reached 
Meade,  he  despatched  Hancock  to  represent  him  on  the 
field.  The  latter,  together  with  Howard,  reporting  that 
the  position  they  held  was  a  good  one,  he  resolved  to  give 
battle  there,  and  immediately  hurried  off  his  aids  to  the 
different  corps,  with  directions  to  concentrate  at  Gettys- 
burg with  all  speed,  and  to  send  the  trains  to  the  rear. 
Having  issued  these  orders,  he  mounted  his  horse  and 
pressed  forward  that  night,  reaching  the  field  at  one 
o'clock  next  morning.  As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  he 
rode  over  the  ground  to  inspect  it,  and  fix  the  location  of 
the  several  corps  as  fast  as  they  should  arrive.  One  after 
another  they  reached  the  field,  and  were  assigned  their  re- 
spective positions. 

About  three  o'clock,  as  he  was  riding  along  his  ex- 
treme left,  he  saw  that  General  Sickles  was  advancing  his 
corps  a  half  a  mile  or  more  from  his  selected  line  of  bat- 
tle. Spurring  forward  till  he  found  him,  he  began  to  ex- 
plain the  propriety  of  withdrawing  his  corps,  when  the 
rebel  batteries  opened  in  front  and  flank,  and  down  came 
a  heavy  body  of  infantry  to  the  charge,  and  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg  commenced. 

BATTLE   OF   GETTYSBURG. 

Though  the  troops  held  their  ground  manfully,  the  re- 
sult showed  that  Meade  was  right;  for  the  corps,  after  a 
fierce  fight,  in  which  Sickles  fell  wounded,  was  compelled 


GETTYSBURG.  353 

to  fall  back.  The  battle  raged  with  terrific  violence  here 
till  night,  and  after  night  on  the  left,  where  the  rebels 
made  a  lodgment.  On  the  whole,  Meade  saw  that  the 
day  had  gone  against  him,  and  looked  forward  with  the 
deepest  anxiety  to  the  struggle  which  the  morning  was 
sure  to  usher  in.  His  nervous  temperament  was  strung 
to  its  utmost  tension,  but  he  coolly  made  his  dispositions, 
and  awaited  the  light  of  the  morning,  which  was  to  de- 
cide, in  all  human  probability,  the  fate  of  the  capital. 
The  battle  commenced  early,  and  deepened  every  moment, 
till,  by  nine  o'clock,  the  uproar  was  terrific.  Howard,  in 
the  centre,  after  listening  awhile  to  the  tremendous  firing 
on  the  right,  turned  to  one  of  his  aids,  and  said,  "Ride 
over  to  General  Meade,  and  tell  him  the  fighting  on  the 
right  seems  more  terrific  than  ever,  and  appears  swing- 
ing somewhat  toward  the  centre,  but  that  we  know 
little  or  nothing  of  how  the  battle  goes;  and  ask  him 
if  he  has  any  orders."  Away  dashed  the  aid,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  galloped  back  with  the  short,  stern  reply, 
"  The  troops  are  to  stand  to  arms,  sir^  and  watch  the 
front" 

Headquarters  were  in  a  little  whitewashed  farm-house, 
in  the  shadow  of  which  lay  wearied  staff  officers  and  war 
correspondents.  Meade  received  reports  here,  coming  oc- 
casionally to  the  door  to  make  some  enquiry  of  some 
staff  officers  who  were  reclining  under  a  tree  near  by. 
Orderlies  and  aids  were  going;  and  coming  on  a  wild  gal- 
lop, while  outside  of  a  garden  fence,  stood  hitched  some 
twenty  or  thirty  horses.  Suddenly  a  shell  screamed  over 
the  house,  then  another,  and  another,  till  a  whole  battery 
seemed  playing  on  the  hitherto  quiet  little  building.  A 
hundred  a  minute  burst  and  shrieked  around  it,  causing 
the  horses  to  rear  in  terror,  and  pull  at  their  fastenings 


354  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   G.    MEADE. 

Faster  and  faster  fell  the  shot  and  shell,  horse  after  horse 
went  down,  his  bowels  torn  out,  or  his  legs  shot  off,  un 
till  sixteen  lay  dead,  still  tied  to  the  fence,  from  which 
they  had  struggled  in  vain  to  free  themselves.  The  steps 
and  porch  of  the  building  were  torn  away  by  a  shell, 
another  burst  in  the  garret,  still  another  pierced  the 
chimney,  till  the  air  was  full  of  the  missiles  of  death, 
whose  horrid  sounds  seemed  the  shrieks  of  flying  demons. 
Either  by  design  or  accident,  the  rebels  had  got  head- 
quarters under  fire,  and  Meade  observing  it,  appeared  at 
the  door  and  told-  the  staff  that  the  enemy  plainly  had 
our  range,  and  they  had  better  go  up  the  slope  fifteen  or 
twenty  yards,  to  the  stable. 

When  the  last  awful  attack,  preceded  by  the  simul- 
taneous roar  of  nearly  two  hundred  cannon,  commenced, 
'  an  expression  of  the  deepest  anxiety  passed  over  Meade's 
face,  and  it  was  plain  that  a  mountain  lay  on  his  heart 
The  minutes  were  lengthened  into  hours,  while  earth  for 
the  time  seemed  turned  into  hell,  with  all  its  fires  raging, 
The  heights  groaned  and  trembled  under  the  awful  explo- 
sions, the  sun  grew  dark  in  the  sulphurous  battle  cloud, 
shouts  and  shrieks  mingled  in  the  fearful  din,  and  he  knew 
that  death  was  reaping  down  his  brave  men  with  frightful 
rapidity.  At  length  there  came  a  lull,  and  then  a  shout ; 
and  such  a  shout,  rolling  for  miles  along  the  wearied, 
bleeding  line.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  at  last,  and  the 
day  won.  Meade  established  his  headquarters  again  near 
Slocum's  Hill,  and  though  scattering  shells  dropped 
around  them,  he  heeded  them  not.  Riding  up,  he  called 
for  paper  and  aids,  and  sat  down  to  despatch  his  orders. 
Just  then  a  band  came  marching  over  the  hill,  playing 
"Hail  to  the  Chief."  That  was  a  proud  night  for  him. 
He  had  saved  Washington,  hurled  back  the  invader,  and 


AFTER   THE   BATTLE.  355 

in  a  few  hours  made  his  name  to  be  known  the  world 
over. 

The  next  morning  broke  fresh  and  fair,  the  birds  once 
more  sang  in  the  trees,  and  all  nature  smiled  peaceful  as 
ever.  In  the  distance,  occasional  shots  of  skirmishers 
were  heard,  but  all  else  was  quiet,  save  where  the  ambu- 
,  lances,  laden  with  the  wounded,  made  their  way  to  the 
roads  and  hospitals.  Meade  sat  in  a  little  wall  tent,  dic- 
tating orders,  while  the  chief  quartermaster  had  his  writ- 
ing table  in  the  end  of  a  wagon.  All  the  rest  of  the  offi- 
cers had  slept  on  the  ground,  and  were  now  huddling 
around  the  camp  fires  in  the  highest  spirits,  talking  and 
laughing,  and  munching  their  fried  pork  and  bread, 
which  they  held  in  their  hands,  and  unbounded  joy  reign- 
ed on  every  side,  save  where  the  thousands  lay  heaped  in 
agony.*  It  was  a  great  victory,  and  Lee  was  soon  in  full 
retreat  for  the  mountains,  leaving  a  whole  army  of  dead 
and  wounded  behind  him.  Over  twenty-three  thousand 
of  our  own  brave  men  had  disappeared  in  this  Waterloo 
to  the  rebels. 

The  cannons  that  heralded  in  our  great  anniversary 
day  announced  at  the  same  time  this  great  victory,  and 
the  fall  of  Vicksburg.  These  two  defeats  to  the  enemy 
East  and  West,  were  the  turning  point  in  the  fate  of  the 
Southern  C onfederacy.  From  that  ever  memorable  Fourth 
of  July  it  never  successfully  rallied  from  its  downward 
tendency,  and  not  a  single  victory  lighted  its  dark  path 
way  to  final  death.  It  put  forth  superhuman  efforts,  and 
though  blind  and  staggering  from  the  awful  blows  dealt 
it,  rallied  bravely  to  the  fight,  yet  rallied  in  vain. ' 

It  was  a  striking  coincidence  that  the  culminating 

*  Army  correspondence. 
23 


356  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE    G.    MEADE. 

victories,  though  occurring  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
apart,  should  have  been  on  the  same  day,  and  that  day 
the  Fourth  of  July,  and  that  the  two  men  who  won  them, 
should  afterward  come  together  and  move  side  by  side  to 
the  close  of  the  war. 

Meade  found  it  impossible  to  follow  up  the  enemy 
directly  in  his  rear,  as  the  latter  could  hold  the  mountain 
pass  by  which  he  had  retired  with  a  small  force,  while 
the  main  army  was  retreating.  He,  therefore,  sent  Kil- 
Patrick's  cavalry  after  him,  and  with  the  army  followed 
back  in  the  same  way  that  he  had  pursued  him  and  by  a 
parallel  route,  with  the  Cumberland  mountains  between 
them,  hoping  to  strike  Lee  while  crossing  the  Potomac. 
The  latter,  however,  got  there  first,  but  to  his  dismay  a 
heavy  rain-storm  had  so  raised  the  river,  that  it  swept  in 
a  fierce  torrent  above  all  its  former  fords,  while  the  only 
pontoon  bridge  he  had  across  it  was  destroyed  by  a  de- 
tachment of  Meade's  army.  His  fate  now  seemed  sealed, 
for  storm  succeeded  storm,  holding  him  there  on  the  per- 
ilous banks,  until  Meade  was  able  to  concentrate  his 
entire  army  in  his  front.  A  whole  week  now  passed  in 
most  strange  inaction,  during  which  time  Lee  built  rafts 
and  boats,  and  finally  crossed  with  all  his  artillery  and 
trains.  Every  one  believed  that  his  capture  was  certain, 
and  the  news  of  his  successful  escape  awakened  the  deepest 
mortification  and  rage.  No  satisfactory  reason  has  ever 
been  given  for  thus  allowing  him  to  get  off  unscathed.  It 
was  said  that  Lee's  position  was  too  strong  to  force,  and 
that  a  council  of  war  decided  that  it  would  be  unwise  to 
attempt  it.  All  this  may  be  true,  but  it  does  not  account 
for  Lee's  getting  off  with  so  little  damage.  There  can  b 
no  sufficient  excuse  for  letting  him  slip  away  with  all  his 
artillery  and  trains,  without  dealing  him  a  single  heavy 


A   BOLD    MOVEMENT.  357 

blow.  He  might  not  have  been  destroyed,  but  he 
should  have  been  seriously  crippled.  Meade  must  have 
outnumbered  him  by  the  close  of  that  week,  nearly  two 
to  one ;  and  if  the  circumstances  justified  the  escape  of 
Lee  intact,  then  the  pursuit  without  the  expectation  of 
being  aided  by  a  swollen  river,  had  better  not  have  been 
attempted. 

When  Meade  found  Lee  had  crossed  the  river,  he 
resumed  the  pursuit  by  a  flank  movement,  crossing  the 
Potomac  at  Berlin,  and  moved  down  the  Loudon  Valley, 
hoping  at  Manassas  Gap  to  intercept  and  cut  off  a  part  of 
the  rebel  army.  But  Lee  outmarched  and  oufmanceu- 
vred  him  completely,  and  Meade' s  army  at  the  close  of 
July,  lay  along  the  Rappahannock  boldly  confronted  by 
the  foe.  Lee  now  weakened  his  diminished  force  still 
more,  by  sending  off  a  portion  of  it  to  reinforce  Bragg  in 
Georgia,  yet,  with  the  remainder  he  assumed  the  offen- 
sive, and  so  manoeuvred,  that  he  actually  turned  Meade's 
flank,  compelling  him  to  fall  back  to  Bull  Run.  De- 
stroying the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railroad,  from  the 
Rapidan  to  Manassas,  he  then  retired  once  more  to  his 
old  position  near  the  Orange  Court  House.  Meade  now 
advanced  again  to  the  Rappahannock,  and  all  through  the 
autumn,  there  was  more  or  less  fighting  between  portions 
of  the  armies,  but  no  general  engagement  took  place. 
At  Robertson^  River,  Brandy  Station,  Bristoe  Station, 
Buckland  Mills  and  the  Rappahannock  Bridge,  there  were 
sharp  conflicts,  especially  at  Bristoe  Station,  where  we 
captured  five  cannon  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners. 
At  Rappahannock  Station  and  Kelly's  Ford,  Sedgewick 
and  French  captured  several  redoubts,  four  guns,  eight 
battle-flags,  and  about  two  thousand  prisoners. 

Lee  now  fell  back  to  his  old  line  behind  the  Rapidan. 


358  MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   G.    MEADE, 

and  the  two  armies  went  into  winter  quarters.  The  next 
spring,  Grant,  having  been  made  Lieutenant^General, 
took  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
though  Meade  was  still  its  nominal  commander. 

We  shall  not  follow  the  latter  farther  in  his  military 
career,  for,  as  before  remarked,  it  is  impossible  to  dis- 
criminate between  his  actions  and  those  of  Grant.  Their 
headquarters  were  usually  close  together,  and  the  move- 
ments of  the  army  were  the  result  of  their  united  counsels* 
Hence,  a  separate  narrative  of  Headers  actions  cannot  be 
given,  unless  at  some  future  time  he  shall  choose  to  fur- 
nish it  himself.  We  suppose,  however,  that  he  had  much 
to  do  in  the  handling  of  the  army  in  its  various  brilliant 
movements  which  showed  such  signal  ability.  He  seem- 
ed to  have  chief  command  after  the  inauguration  of  the 
last  great  movement,  and  showed  himself  equal  to  the 
tremendous  responsibilities  thrown  upon  him.  Grant 
also  gave  over  the  direction  of  the  pursuit  to  him,  thus 
showing  his  entire  confidence  in  his  ability. 

As  a  mark  of  its  appreciation  of  his  services,  the 
Government,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  placed  him  in  com- 
mand of  the  whole  Atlantic  Department. 

Notwithstanding  General  Meade's  long  service  and 
high  position,  he  has  never  held  chief  command  in  but 
one  battle.  With  Grant  he  saw  some  of  the  most  severe 
fighting  of  the  war,  and  doubtless,  at  times  executed  in- 
dependent movements  of  great  importance;  still  they 
always  have  been  and  always  will  be  attributed  to  Grant, 
who  was  the  real  head  of  the  army. 

As  a  division  commander  he  never  failed  to  dis- 
tinguish himself;  but  the  one  battle  that  gave  him  his 
fame  was  Gettysburg.  Still,  sharing  with  Grant  the 
dangers  and  responsibilities  of  the  last  year  of  the  war, 


HIS    CHARACTER.  359 

also  the  glory  of  final  success,  he  will  go  down  to  pos- 
terity with  him,  their  names  indissolubly  linked  together, 
and  sharers  of  a  common  fame. 

Meade's  qualities  are  rather  solid  than  brilliant.  Cau- 
tious and  reliable,  he  probably  never  would  originate  those 
daring  unexpected  movements  which  distinguish  Grant 
and  Sherman.  Still,  his  military  qualities  are  of  a  high 
order,  and  his  fame  rests  on  a  solid  basis. 

He  is  a  Catholic  by  profession,  and  maintains  his 
religious  character  under  all  circumstances.  Brave  with- 
out being  rash,  his  coolness  under  fire  gives  him  entire 
possession  of  his  faculties ;  and  though  not  calculated  bj 
nature  to  awaken  great  enthusiasm  among  soldiers,  he 
has  their  entire  confidence,  and  secures  their  hearty 
obedience.  He  is  a  good  as  well  as  great  man,  and  well 
deserves  the  fame  he  has  so  nobly  won, 


CHAPTER  XVL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER. 

HIS  BIRTH  AND  NATIVITY — ENTEES  WEST  POINT — SERVES  UNDER  TAYLOR  IB 
MEXICO — JOINS  THE  ARMY  OF  GENERAL  SCOTT — PROMOTED  FOR  GALLANT 
CONDUCT  AT  THE  NATIONAL  BRIDGE  AND  CHAPULTEPEC — RESIGNS  HIS 
COMMISSION,  AND  BECOMES  A  CALIFORNIA  FARMER — APPOINTED  BRIGADIER 
OF  VOLUNTEERS  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  WAR — IS  STATIONED 
BELOW  WASHINGTON — BATTLE  OF  WILLIAMSBURG — HIS  AFTER  SERVICES  IN 
THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC — UNDER  POPE — BATTLE  OF  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN 

— OF  ANTIETAM — is  WOUNDED — UNDER  BURNSIDE — SUPERSEDES  HIM — HIS 

CONFIDENT  ORDERS — FEELING  OF  THE  PEOPLE — BATTLE  OF  CHAXCELLORS- 
VILLE — LEE  MARCHES  AROUND  HIM — RESIGNS  HIS  POSITION — SENT  TO 
CHATTANOOGA  TO  ASSIST  ROSECRANS — OCCUPIES  LOOKOUT  VALLEY — 
BATTLE  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS — HIS  GALLANT  KECORD  IN  THE  ATLANTA 
CAMPAIGN — TERRIFIC  FIGHT  BEFORE  THE  CITY — OFFENDED  AT  HOWARD'S 
PROMOTION  AND  RESIGNS — SENT  TO  OHIO — NOW  COMMANDS  NEW  ENG- 
LAND DEPARTMENT. 

JOSEPH  HOOKER  was  born  in  Hadley,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  year  1819,  and  entered  West  Point  at  the  early 
age  of  fourteen.  Graduating,  in  1837,  at  eighteen,  he 
was  made  second  lieutenant  in  the  First  Artillery.  •  At 
the  commencement  of  the  Mexican  war  he  received  a  po- 
sition on  Brig.-Gen.  Hamar's  staff,  and  was  present  at 
the  battle  of  Monterey,  in  which  he  exhibited  that  dash 
and  darinp;  that  have  ever  since  characterized  him.  He 

o 

rode  amid  the  shot  and  shell  as  if  their  shrieks  were  ex- 
citing music,  and  so  distinguished  himself  by  his  gallant 
bearing  that  he  was  breveted  captain.  In  March,  1847, 


A   CALIFORNIA   FARMER.  361 

he  obtained  the  full  rank  of  captain,  with  the  post  of 
Assistant- Adjutant-General.  He  afterwards  joined  Scott's 
army  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  was  made  major  and  lieutenant- 
colonel  for  gallant  conduct  at  the  National  Bridge  and 
Chapultepec.  In  his  despatch  concerning  the  latter  battle, 
Scott  says,  "  Captain  Hooker  won  special  applause  suc- 
cessively on  the  staff  of  Pillow  and  Cadwallader."  This 
was  a  high  encomium  from  the  commander-in-chief,  and 
shows  that  his  bearing  was  so  gallant  as  to  be  conspicu- 
ous even  where  all  were  brave.  But  the  dull  routine  of 
military  duties  in  time  of  peace  did  not  suit  him,  and,  in 
1853,  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  settled  on  a  farm 
in  California.  This  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  he  had 
reached  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
three — a  rapidity  of  promotion  which  would  have  satis- 
fied, at  that  time,  the  ambition  of  most  young  officers. 
Many  anecdotes  are  told  of  him  while  residing  in  Cali- 
fornia, all  showing  that  the  life  of  a  farmer  did  not  des- 
troy his  love  of  excitement,  and  was  not  the  one  for 
which  he  by  nature  was  fitted.  The  rebellion  of  1861 
found  him  quite  ready  to  resume  once  more  his  old  pro- 
fession. Offering  his  services  to  the  Government,  he  was 
made,  in  May,  brigadier-general  in  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac, and  afterwards  promoted  to  a  division  in  Heintzel- 
man's  Corps.  From  July  to  the  next  February,  1862, 
he  was  stationed  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Potomac,  in 
Southern  Maryland,  to  watch  the  enemy,  and  defeat  any 
attempt  to  cross  over  for  the  purpose  of  moving  on  Wash- 
ington in  that  direction.  His  division  afterwards  formed 
a  part  of  McClellan's  army  in  its  movements  on  the  Pen- 
insula. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  the  enemy  had  evacu- 
ated \orktown,  Stoneman  was  immediately  sent  forward 


362  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

with  his  cavalry  to  harass  the  rebel  rear,  and  Hooker, 
with  his  division,  ordered  to  support  him.  The  latter 
left  camp  about  noon  the  4th  of  May,  and  inarched 
rapidly  forward,  till  he  was  brought  to  a  halt  by  Smith's 
division  filing  into  the  road  in  front  of  him.  But  ob- 
taining, after  a  long  delay,  permission  to  take  the  Hamp- 
ton road,  he  wheeled  off  just  at  night,  and  again  pressed 
forward.  It  was  dark  as  Erebus,  and  to  make  the  march 
more  difficult,  the  rain,  falling  in  torrents,  rendered  the 
roads  almost  impassable.  He,  however,  pushed  on  through 
the  Cimmerian  gloom,  and  mud  and  storm,  till  an  hour  or 
so  before  midnight,  when  he  found  it  necessary  to  halt, 
and  give  his  exhausted  troops  a  little  rest,  and  to  wait  for 
daylight,  for  he  was  close  upon  the  enemy.  Hight  there, 
in  the  middle  of  the  miry  road  and  gloomy  forest,  the 
column  halted,  and  stood  out  the  long  dark  night  in  the 
pelting  rain,  as  it  best  could.  With  the  first  streak  of 
dawn  the  bugles  sounded  "  forward,"  and,  drenched  and 
weary,  the  division  cautiously  advanced.  About  five 
o'clock,  just  before  leaving  the  woods,  he  ordered  it  to  halt, 
and  rode  forward  to  ascertain  the  position  of  the  enemy. 
He  found  Fort  Magruder  directly  in  his  path,  with  a 
cordon  of  redoubts,  stretching  on  either  side  to  the  James 
and  York  Rivers.  In  front  of  these  redoubts,  the  forest 
had  been  cut  away  to  give  the  artillery  a  clear  sweep  of 
an  attacking  force,  and  felled  so  as  to  entangle  and  ob- 
struct its  march,  and  hold  the  troops  under  fire,  while 
rifle-pits  seamed  the  ground  in  every  direction.  Beyond, 
a  wide  plain  extended  to  Williamsburg,  two  miles  distant, 
whose  lofty  shade-trees  gave  a  picturesque  appearance  to 
the  landscape. 

Thinking  it  his  duty  to  hold  the  rebels  in  check  till 
the  main  army  could  come  up,  Hooker  determined,  not- 


BATTLE    OF   WILLIAMSBURG.  363 

withstanding  his  inferior  force,  to  advance  at  once  to  the 
attack.  Emerging  from  the  wood,  he  was  instantly  sa- 
luted with  the  rebel  artillery,  and  so  well  directed  was 
the  fire,  that  Webber's  battery,  which  had  been  hurried 
forward  beyond  the  fallen  timber,  was  swept  clean  of  every 
cannonier  before  it  had  fired  a  single  shot.  Volunteers 
were  immediately  sent  forward,  and  in  a  minute  the  bat- 
tery was  manned,  and  began  to  hurl  shell  and  shot  in  the 
hostile  works.  Other  guns  were  brought  up,  and  between 
the  batteries  and  sharp-shooters,  by  nine  o'clock  the  guns 
of  the  fort  were  silenced.  The  infantry  were  now  ad- 
vanced into  position,  and  the  battle  opened.  The  retreat- 
ing army  of  the  rebels  beyond  Williamsburg,  hearing  the 
firing,  halted  and  sent  back  reinforcements,  and  Hooker 
had  to  contend  with  overwhelming  numbers.  Seeing 
this,  he  immediately  sent  back  to  Heintzelman  for  help. 
So  heavily  was  he  pushed,  that  he  had  to  bring  up  all  his 
reserves  to  check  the  onsets  that  were  incessantly  made, 
and  each  time  with  fresh  troops  and  in  greater  numbers. 
Here  and  there  he  was  forced  back,  yet  he  stubbornly 
held  the  road,  which  was  the  centre  of  his  operations. 
Three  times  the  hostile  columns  advanced  to  within 
eighty  yards  of  this  key  to  his  position,  determined  at 
all  hazards  to  force  it  by  mere  weight  of  numbers ;  but 
the  steady,  desolating  fire  that  met  them  was  too  much 
for  human  endurance,  and  shattered,  rent,  and  bleeding, 
they  fell  back.  Some  of  the  regiments  got  out  of  am- 
munition, and  were  compelled  to  supply  themselves  from 
the  cartridge-boxes  of  the  fallen. 

Thus  he  fought  all  the  forenoon,  and  soon  after  mid- 
day Longstreet  came  up  with  a  fresh  division,  when  a 
simultaneous  attack  was  made  on  his  left  and  centre.  So 
heavy  was  this  onset,  and  so  close  and  desperate  the  strug- 


364  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

gle,  that  though  Hooker  repulsed  the  attack,  he  lost  four 
of  his  guns.  Thus  he  stood,  from  early  in  the  morning 
till  after  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  one  against  three, 
clinging  with  death-like  tenacity  to  his  position,  while  his 
eye  incessantly  turned  back  along  the  road,  to  catch  sight 
of  the  heads  of  the  columns  advancing  to  his  support. 
Heintzelman  had  come  with  his  staff;  but  the  troops  were 
floundering  far  back,  with  their  artillery  stuck  fast  in  the 
mud.  The  arrival  of  Kearney,  however,  with  his  divi- 
sion at  this  juncture,  relieved  his  weary,  decimated  divi- 
sion. Nearly  1,700  had  fallen  in  this  unequal  struggle, 
and  Hooker,  enraged  at  his  loss,  and  the  unsatisfactory 
issue  of  the  battle,  so  far  as  his  division  was  concerned, 
blamed  severely  those  whose  business  he  deemed  it  to  be 
to  reinforce  him. 

.  A  part  of  Hooker's  division  participated  in  the  battle 
of  Fair  Oaks.  On  the  second  day  he  himself  led  in  per- 
son a  charge  gf  bayonets  by  two  regiments,  driving  the 
enemy  a  mile.  His  appearance  in  this  charge  was  gal- 
lant in  the  extreme.  He  also  took  an  important  part  in 
the  advance  movement  that  was  preparatory  to  a  general 
assault  on  the  works  around  Richmond,  just  previous  to 
the  flank  attack  that  compelled  McClellan  to  retreat  to 
the  James  River. 

In  this  famous  retreat,  Hooker  was  directed  to  cover 
the  Quaker  road,  over 'which  the  troops  and  artillery  and 
trains  were  to  pass.  This  road,  as  it  stretches  toward  the 
James  River,  is  cut  by  the  principal  highways  leading 
down  from  Richmond.  Kearney's  division  was  assigned 
to  the  same  duty,  and  the  two  commanders,  looking  over  the 
ground  together  early  in  the  morning,  to  see  by  which  the 
enemy  would  be  most  likely  to  advance,  it  was  decided  that 
Hooker  should  establish  his  division  on  the  one  that  camo 


BATTLE    OF    GLENDALE.  365 

in  near  St.  Paul's  Church.  Here  the  battle  of  Glendale 
was  fought.  Although  at  the  outset  McCall's  division 
was  routed,  and  broke  in  confusion  through  his  lines,  he 
stopped  the  victorious  advance  of  the  enemy  by  the  ter- 
rible fire  he  was  able  to  pour  into  his  ranks  ;  and  com- 
pelled him,  after  a  severe  struggle  and  heavy  loss,  to  fall 
back.  Hooker  says,  "  The  field  on  which  they  fought  was 
almost  covered  with  their  dead  and  dying.  From  their 
torches  we  could  see  that  the  enemy  was  busy  all  night 
long  in  searching  for  his  wounded ;  but  up  to  daylight  the 
following  morning,  there  had  been  no  apparent  diminu- 
tion in  the  heart-rending  cries  and  groans  of  his  wounded. 
The  unbroken,  mournful  wail  of  human  suffering  was  all 
that  was  heard  from  Glendale,  during  that  long  and  dis- 
mal night."  He  then  continued  to  fall  back  to  the  James 
Hiver,  and  taking  position  on  Malvern  Hill,  bore  his 
part  in  the  fearful  battle  that  followed. 

For  the  part  it  took  in  the  several  battles  of  the 
Peninsula,  his  division  became  known  as  "  Fighting  Joe 
Hooker's  division,"  and  he  acquired  the  sobriquet  which 
his  future  career  showed  to  be  well  earned — "  Fighting 
Joe  Hooker." 

When  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  recalled  from 
the  Peninsula  to  assist  Pope  in  front  of  Washington;" 
Heintzelrnan's  corps,  to  which  Hooker's  division  belonged, 
was  one  of  the  first  to  reach  him  at  Warren  ton  Junction. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  27th  of  August,  as  Hooker,  in 
obedience  to  orders,  was  falling  back  from  this  place  to 
Manassas,  he  was  attacked  by  General  Ewell ;  but*  he 
not  only  repulsed  him,  but  attacking  in  turn,  drove  him 
along  the  railroad,  and  pressed  him  so  closely  that  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  his  dead  and  many  of  his  wounded, 
and  much  of  his  baggage  in  our  hands. 


366  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

The  battle  of  Groveton,  that  occurred  two  days  after 
was  fought  by  Sigel,  till  the  arrival  of  Hooker's  and 
Kearney's  divisions,  which  did  not  reach  the  field  till  two 
o'clock,  Wearied  with  their  long  march,  they  needed 
rest ;  but  the  roar  of  artillery  had  quickened  their  steps  ; 
and  at  the  sight  of  Hooker's  noble  division,  a  loud  cheer 
went  up  from  Sigel's  corps.  About  five  o'clock,  he 
made  a  furious  attack  on  Jackson,  doubling  up  his 
left,  and  forcing  it  from  the  field,  winning  anew  the 
title  that  had  been  given  him.  Never  were  troops 
carried  into  action  with  greater  gallantry;  and  where 
that  division  fought,  the  dead  lay  thick  as  autumn  leaves. 
One  of  his  brigades  (Grover's)  immortalized  itself  like 
"  Le  Terrible "  regiment  of  Napoleon,  by  a  bayonet 
charge  that  has  but  few  parallels.  With  unbroken  front 
and  loud  shouts,  it  threw  itself  on  the  line  of  the  enemy, 
crushing  it  like  an  eggshell  beneath  its  feet,  and  still 
storming  on,  struck  a  second,  trampling  it  in  scornful 
fury  to  pieces ;  and  yet  unsatisfied  with  the  work  it  had 
done,  and  seeing  a  third  line  confronting  it,  moved  with 
levelled  bayonets  full  upon  it,  and  actually  pierced  it  be- 
fore its  awful  progress  was  stopped.  But  its  terrible 
advance  had  alarmed  the  rebel  commander,  who,  concen- 
trating an  overwhelming  force  upon  it,  tore  it  with  such 
a  devastating  fire,  that  it  was  compelled  to  fall  back. 
This  it  did,  not  in  confusion ;  but  proudly  and  haughtily, 
like  those  who  felt  themselves  conquerors,  even  in  retreat- 
ing. 

Hooker  had  been  appointed  major-general  in  July, 
and  in  September,  in  the  reorganization  of  the  army, 
preparatory  to  the  Maryland  campaign,  was  assigned 
to  the  First  Army  Corps. 

In  the  battle  of  South  Mountain,  on  the  14th  of  this 


BATTLE   OP   ANTIETAM.  367 

month,  as  a  corps  commander  he  added  still  more  to  his 
laurels.  The  attack,  under  Reno,  began  at  seven  o'clock  hi 
the  morning,  and  was  kept  up  with  more  or  less  severity, 
till  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  heads  of  Hook- 
er's columns  were  seen  coming  briskly  up  the  turnpike, 
At  the  welcome  sight,  the  troops  sent  up  loud  cheers, 
which  rolled  joyously  down  the  line,  for  all  seemed  to  feel 
now,  that  victory  was  certain. 

At  three  o'clock,  Hooker  formed  his  line  of  battle  at 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  gave  the  order  to  advance. 
Like  an  unbroken  wave  it  swept  up  the  rugged  slope, 
slowly,  yet  steadily  winning  its  way  upward,  and,  after 
three  hours'  hard  fighting,  his  victorious  banners  waved 
in  the  setting  sun  from  the  summit,  and  the  shouts  of 
triumph  rolled  down  the  farther  side  after  the  fleeing 
enemy.  * 

But  it  was  at  the  battle  of  Antietam,  that  occurred 
a  few  days  after,  that  Hooker  showed  his  great  ability  as 
a  commander  more  than  ever  before.  In  fact,  we  regard 
this  as  the  true,  culminating  point  of  his  fame.  His  ac- 
cession to  the  chief  command  of  the  army  injured  it,  and 
in  no  subsequent  battle  of  the  war  did  he  bear  so  im- 
portant a  part  as  in  this.  Lee's  army  lay  behind  the 
heights  that  line  the  west  bank  of  the  stream,  extending 
from  near  its  mouth,  where  it  empties  into  the  Potomac, 
for  several  miles  up.  McClellan's  plan  was  to  cross 
Hooker's  corps  above,  and  come  down  on  the  rebel  left, 
his  movement  to  be  supported  by  Mansfield,  Sumner,  and 
Franklin.  When  he  had  turned  it,  or  compelled  the  enemy 
to  concentrate  the  bulk  of  his  force  against  him,  thereby 
weakening  the  right,  Burnside  was  to  cross  on  a  stone 
bridge  on  our  left,  and  forcing  back  Lee's  right,  push 
on  to  Sharpsburg,  thus  getting  in  the  rebel  rear,  and 


368  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

i 

preventing  the   enemy  from    escaping  across   the    Po 
tomac. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  16th,  Hooker  put  his  troops 
in  motion,  and  crossing  the  stream,  moved  down  on  the 
rebel  left.     The  corps  marched  compactly,   Hooker,   as 
usual,  keeping  well  in  advance  to  reconnoitre  in  person. 
The  rebel  pickets  fell  back  before  him  until  just  at  night, 
when,   on  crossing  a  grass-sown  field,  with   woods   on 
either  side,  he  encountered  the  enemy  in  force.    Forming 
his  lines  with  his  accustomed  rapidity  and  decision,  he  at 
once  advanced,  but  by  this  time  it  was  dark,  and  the  posi- 
tion of  the  rebels  could  be  known  only  by  the  flash  of 
their  guns.     !For  a  short  time  it  thundered  and  flamed 
there  in  the  gloom,  and  then  silence  fell  on  the  autumnal 
landscape,  and  the  two  hostile  lines  lay  down  close  to 
each  other  to  wait  for  the  morning.      Turning  to  his 
generals,   Hooker  remarked,  "  We  are  through  for  to- 
night, gentlemen,  but  to-morrow  we  fight  the  battle  that 
will  decide  the  fate  of  the  Republic,"  and  retired  for  the 
night  to  a  neighboring  barn  to  get  some  rest.     But  soon 
after  there  came  a  sudden  crash  through  the  gloom  which 
brought  him  at  once  into  the  open  air.     He  stood  and 
listened  a  moment  to  the  heavy  volleys,  and  as  he  ascer- 
tained by  the  sound,  the  locality  of  the  firing,  he  smiled 
with  a  grim  satisfaction,   and  remarked  quietly,   "We 
have  no  troops  there — the  rebels  are  shooting  each  other. 
It  is  Fair  Oaks  over  again,"  and  turned  in  again.      Dur- 
ing all  that  long  night,  however,  ever  and  anon  would  come 
a  rattling  fire  of  musketry,  or  the  heavy  boom  of  cannon, 
keeping  every  one  on  the  alert. 

With  the  morning  light,  Hooker  was*  in  the  saddle, 
and  began  at  once  to  push  forward  his  batteries,  and  the 
great  battle  commenced.  For  half  an  hour  the  forces 


ANTIETAM.  369 

maintained  their  respective  positions,  and  then  Hooker 
gave  the  order,  "Forward."  With  a  cheer  the  line 
swept  onward  across  a  corn-field,  over  the  fence  and  be- 
yond it,  until  it  came  upon  a  dense  wood.  From  out 
the  dark  recesses  of  this  there  suddenly  burst  terrific 
volleys,  till  those  gloomy  woods  seemed  turned  into  a 
mighty  furnace  shooting  forth  blasts  of  fire,  before  which 
everything  withered  and  shrivelled  up.  Our  front  melted 
away  like  frost  work,  and  in  ten  minutes  seemed  half  de- 
molished. The  divided  ranks  recoiled,  and  the  shouting 
rebels  dashed  after.  Hooker  saw  the  peril  and  sent  in 
his  nearest  brigade  to  check  the  torrent,  but  it  was  swept 
away  with  the  rest.  He  looked  around  for  another,  but 
none  was  near  enough,  unless  he  took  one  from  his  right, 
on  which  the  enemy  was  even  then  advancing  in  threaten- 
ing masses.  But  that  onward  rush  against  his  centre 
must  be  stopped  at  all  hazards,  and  he  sent  to  Doubleday 
the  order,  "  Give  me  your  best  brigade."  Down  came 
the  brigade  on  a  run,  and  dashing  through  the  timber  in 
front,  amid  a  storm  of  shot  and  bursting  shell  and  crash- 
ing limbs  swept  over  the  open  field  beyond,  passing  as 
it  went,  the  fragments  of  three  brigades,  shattered  by 
the  rebel  fire,  and  streaming  to  the  rear.  As  it  passed 
Hooker,  his  eye  lighted  with  confidence  and  he  quietly 
remarked,  "  I  think  they  will  hold  it."  The  fighting  now 
became  terrific.  Hooker,  with  his  staff  and  orderlies  all  off 
galloping  in  every  direction,  rode  alone  backward  and 
forward  through  the  fire,,  his  white  horse  a  conspicuous 
mark  for  the  rebel  bullets.  The  brave  General  Hartsuff 
went  down  severely  wounded,  and  the  white-haired  Mans- 
field breathed  out  his  gallant  soul ;.  but  still  that  white 
horse  flitted  unharmed  through  the  smoke  of  battle. 
When  at  length  Hooker  got  his  supports  up  and  his  whole 


370  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH    HOOKER. 

line  firm  and  well  protected,  he  determined  to  order  a 
general  advance.  The  crimson  trampled  corn-field  which 
he  had  carried  in  the  morning,  and  across  which  he  had 
afterwards  been  driven,  lay  before  him.  A  piece  of  woods 
to  the  right  of  it  was  the  key  to  the  position,  and  he  de- 
termined to  take  it.  To  ascertain  the  best  mode  of  attack, 
he  rode  out  beyond  his  most  advanced  troops  and  ascend- 
ing a  hill,  dismounted  and  went  forward  on  foot.  Coolly 
finishing  his  reconnoissance,  while  all  the  time,  from  out 
the  very  piece  of  woods  he  was  examining,  the  rebel  vol- 
leys steadily  issued,  he  returned  and  re-mounted  his 
horse  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  of  bullets.  The  white  steed 
had  evidently  attracted  the  notice  of  the  enemy,  and  when 
they  saw  its  rider  re-mount  to  ride  away,  they  made  him 
a  target,  and  a  fresh  volley  swept  every  foot  of  that  JrilL 
Three  men  dropped  at  once  by  Hooker's  side,  and  a  bullet 
at  the  same  time  pierced  his  foot  Still  keeping  his 
saddle,  though  racked  with  pain,  he  rode  slowly  back  a  few 
steps,  the  blood  flowing  from  his  boot,  and  then  turning 
in  his  seat,  his  pale  face  suddenly  gleaming  with  the  light 
of  battle,  he  exclaimed,  "  There  is  a  regiment  to  the  right, 
order  it  forward.  Crawford  and  Gordon  are  coming  up. 
Tell  them  to  carry  those  woods  and  hold  them — it  is  our 
fight."  He  then  allowed  himself  to  be  led  from  the  field. 
Sumner  at  that  moment  coming  -up,  assumed  command, 
and  the  fight  went  on,  raging  with  increased  ferocity. 
Hooker,  on  his  back  in  the  rear,  heard  the  steady  thunder- 
crash  on  the  field  he  had  left,  and  tossed  uneasily  as  he 
thought  how  his  noble  corps  was  breasting  the  hurricane 
of  fire,  and  he  not  there  to  lead  them.  //  :t 

Bight  nobly  did  he  and  Mansfield,  and  after  them 
Sumner  and  Franklin  and  Sedgewick,  fight  their  part  of 
the  battle  of  Antietam,  but  Burnside's  failure  made  it 


SUPERSEDES   BURN  SIDE.  371 

only  a  partial  victory,  and  yet  so  far  as  putting  a  stop  to 
Lee's  invasion  was  concerned,  a  complete  one. 

It  was  some  time  before  Hooker  was  again  able  to 
take  the  field,  but  in  November  he  superseded  Porter  in 
the  command  of  the  Fifth  Corps  ;  and  shortly  afterward, 
on  Burnside  assuming  the  chief  command,  was  assigned 
the  centre  grand  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
comprising  the  Third  and  Fifth  Corps.  When  the  former 
commenced  his  rapid  movement  from  Warrenton  to 
Fredericksburg,  Hooker  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  Grand 
Army.  Having  no  faith  in  the  success  of  Burn  side's  an- 
ticipated surprise  of  Lee,  by  getting  across  the  B/appa- 
hannock  into  Fredericksburg,  before  the  latter  was  aware 
of  his  intentions,  he,  while  on  the  march,  wrote  to  him, 
requesting  to  be  permitted  to  fling  his  division  over  the 
river  above  the  city,  and  throw  up  fortifications  and  hold 
the  position  till  the  rest  of  the  army  could  effect  a  pas- 
sage, thus  securing  the  heights  which  afterwards  proved 
our  destruction.  Burnside,  however1,  refused  his  con- 
sent- 
Hooker  took  no  part  in  the  great  battle,  save  that 
a  portion  of  his  division  arrived  near  its  close  as  reinforce- 
ments. He  was  left  in  charge  of  the  troops  in  the  place 
when  Burnside  began  to  evacuate  it,  and  by  his  repre- 
sentations, hurried  the  movements. 

On  the  26th  of  January  he  superseded  Burnside  in 
the  chief  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
Franklin  and  Sumner  resigned  their  positions  in  it. 

"Fighting  Joe  Hooker"  had  now  become  a  popular 
favorite,  and  by  those  who  were  captivated  by  the  title,  his 
accession  to  the  chief  command  was  hailed  with  unbound- 
ed delight,  but  those  who  knew  his  great  qualities  best^ 
and  were  well  aware  that  they  were  better  fitted  for  a 

24 


372  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

corps  commander  than  a  general-in-chief,  were  filled  with 
apprehension. 

He  immediately  reorganized  the  army,  paying  especial 
attention  to  the  cavalry,  which,  under  his  hand,  became  a 
powerful  arm  of  the  service. 

Issuing  an  order  requiring  all  correspondents  of  the 
army  to  write  over  their  own  signatures,  he,  on  the  27th 
of  April,  began  his  great  movement  over  the  Rappahan- 
nock.  He  succeeded  in  throwing  his  army  across  it  a 
few  miles  above  Fredericksburg,  near  the  United  States 
Ford,  and  began  to  move  toward  Chancellorsville.  On 
the  30th,  he  issued  the  following  Napoleonic  address  to 
his  army:  "It  is  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  that  the  gen- 
eral commanding  announces  to  the  army  that  the  opera- 
tions of  the  last  three  days  have  determined  that  our  en- 
emy must  ingloriously  fly,  or  come  out  from  behind  their 
defences  and  give  us  battle  on  our  own  ground,  where 
certain  destruction  awaits  him."  So  confident  was  he  of 
success,  that  he  said  that  Lee's  army  was  "  the  property 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac."  Indeed,  his  great  anx- 
iety was  to  cut  off  Lee's  retreat,  and  for  this  purpose  he 
sent  off  his  cavalry  under  Stoneman,  to  destroy  the  rail- 
roads in  the  rebel  rear,  and  sever  his  communications 
with  Richmond.  On  the  2d  of  May,  he  took  up  his 
headquarters  at  Chancellorsville.  Sedgewick,  with  some 
twenty  thousand  men,  had  been  left  to  cross  at  Freder- 
icksburg, and  carry  the  heights,  against  which  Burnside 
had  dashed  in  vain. 

Everything  seemed  working  well  up  to  the  time  of  the 
overwhelming  attack  of  Stonewall  Jackson  on  Howard's 
corps,  which  held  the  extreme  right.  But  Howard's  de- 
feat imperilled  his  communication  with  his  bridges,  and 
the  next  day  he  had  to  change  his  position,  and  re- arrange 


CHANCELLORSVILLE.  373 

his  line  of  battle.  Attacked  again,  he  fought  a  protract- 
ed., bloody,  defensive  battle,  and  although  he  was  able  to 
hold  his  position,  yet  when  night  came  he  found  that  his 
grand  victorious  inarch  was  ended ;  and  heavy  rains  in 
the  meantime  setting  in,  threatening  to  sweep  away  his 
bridges,  he  reluctantly  gave  the  order  to  retreat 

Sedgwick  took  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg,  but 
the  defeat  of  Hooker  enabled  Lee  to  concentrate  a  heavy 
force  against  him,  and  he  too  was  compelled  to  recross 
the  river,  narrowly  escaping  total  destruction. 

It  was  a  terrible  disaster,  and  shook  the  country  from 
limit  to  limit.  The  friends  of  Hooker  were  angry,  and 
for  some  time  insisted  that  it  was  no  defeat,  while  his  en- 
emies had  no  compassion  on  him,  on  account  of  the  boast- 
ful manner  in  which  he  had  conducted  himself.  He  had 
declared  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  failed  to  take 
Richmond  on  account  of  the  incompetency  of  its  leader — 
had  predicted  certain  victory  to  it  under  his  leadership, 
and  otherwise  so  bore  himself,  that  the  sympathy  Avhich 
had  been  universally  felt  for  Burnside  on  his  defeat,  was 
not  extended  to  him. 

It  was  impossible  at  first  to  get  at  the  truth,  but  it  after- 
wards came  out,  that  Lee  had  attacked  and  defeated  him 
with  half  his  numbers.  He  consequently  felt  a  contempt 
for  his  adversary,  just  as  he  had  for  Pope,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  latter,  took  the  bold  resolution  to  march 
around  him,  and  invade  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 
Carrying  out  his  plan,  he  moved  his  vast  arrny  for  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  around  by  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  to  the  Potomac.  Hooker  sent  out  cavalry  and  in- 
fantry to  ascertain  his  movements,  and  some  severe  fight- 
ing occurred,  but  Lee  did  not  for  a  moment  arrest  his 
march.  Pouring  his  legions  into  the  Shenandoah  Val- 


S74  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

ley,  he  occupied  all  the  passes  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  com 
pelling  Hooker  to  follow  on  east  of  the  mountains,  and 
finally  effected  the  passage  of  the  Potomac  near  Hagers- 
town,  while  the  latter  crossed  below,  and  occupied  Fred- 
ericksburg. 

The  neglect  to  stop  this  invasion  with  his  superior 
army  caused  the  greatest  dissatisfaction,  and  hushed  all 
the  angry  defences  hitherto  made  by -his  friends.  At 
Fredericksburg  he  resigned  his  command,  and  Meade 
was  appointed  in  his  place.  The  reason  given  for  this 
was,  that  Halleck  refused  to  let  him  order  the  evacua- 
tion of  Harper's  Ferry ;  but  as  Meade  was  permitted 
to  do  it  the  moment  he  assumed  command,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  this  refusal  was  only  part  of  a  plan  to  get  rid  of 
him. 

Popular  favor  is  fickle,  and  Hooker's  case  did  not 
prove  to  be  an  exception  to  the  general  rule. 

But  though  his  failure  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  had  been  complete,  it  could  not 
blind  the  administration  to  his  great  merits.  Stonewall 
Jackson,  the  best  general  in  the  rebel  army,  and  one  of 
the  best  that  ever  commanded  in  any  army,  would  have 
failed  just  as  signally,  had  he  been  put  in  Lee^s  place. 
Nature  designed  neither  of  them  to  command  vast  inde- 
pendent armies,  operating  on  a  wide  field.  The  power 
of  combination  required  in  such  a  leader  is  not  common. 
Executive  and  administrative  capacity* do  not  always, 
or  usually,  go  together.  Ney  and  Murat  could  not  be 
Napoleon,  by  putting  them  in  his  place.  As  a  division 
or  corps  leader,  Hooker  had  no  superior — in  fact,  the 
very  title  that  captivated  the  public  mind  indicates  the 
true  power  of  the  man.  At  all  events,  he  was  one  that 
could  not  be  spared  from  the  army,  for  such  generals 


BATTLE    ABOVE    THE    CLOUDS.  375 

are  not  born  every  day;  and  once  in  his  appropriate 
place,  few  could  fill  it  like  him. 

In  the  autumn,  therefore,  when  Rosecrans,  besieged 
at  Chattanooga,  asked  for  reinforcements,  Hooker,  with 
the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Corps  was  sent  to  his  help.  No 
higher  compliment  could  have  been  paid  him,  than  to 
place  him  over  these  corps,  at  whose  head  two  such  mag- 
nificent commanders  stood  as  Slocum  and  Howard. 
Each  was  worthy  to  lead  an  army,  and  in  no  one  par- 
ticular his  inferior. 

As  soon  as  Grant  assumed  command  at  Chattanooga, 
Hooker  was  directed  to  throw  his  army  over  the  Ten- 
nessee, at  Brown's  Ferry,  and  establish  himself  in  Look- 
out Valley.  This  was  done  by  secretly  floating  a  force 
in  pontoons  by  night  past  the  rebel  pickets,  which  got 
possession  of  the  southern  bank,  and  held  it  till  he  could 
get  his  corps  across.  The  movement  was  successful, 
though  Hooker  had  a  severe  fight  before  he  compelled 
the  enemy  to  leave  the  Valley  and  retire  to  the  slope  of 
the  mountain. 

Sherman,  soon  after  arriving  with  his  army  from 
the  Mississippi,  Grant  prepared  to  assault  the  rebel 
position  in  his  front.  Hooker's  part  in  the  coming 
struggle  was  to  carry  Lookout  Mountain,  and  thus  open 
direct  communication  with  Grant  at  Chattanooga,  and 
threaten  the  rebel  left.  This  he  did  on  the  24th  of  No- 
vember, the  day  that  Sherman,  miles  up  stream,  was 
crossing  his  army,  and  establishing  himself  on  the  rebel 
right. 

It  was  a  drizzling,  foggy  day  when  the  march  began, 
and  the  clouds  hung  low  and  dark  upon  the  lofty  summit 
of  Lookout.  As  Hooker  looked  up  the  rugged  slopes,  he 
saw  that  no  common  task  had  been  assigned  him ;  but  it 


376  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

was  in  just  such  emergencies  that  his  great  qualities  ex 
hibited  themselves.  That  cloud-capped  summit  must  be 
won,  and  the  first  step  taken  toward  victory.  The  bugles 
sounded  "forward,"  and  the  columns  took  up  their  line  of 
march  for  the  base,  and  heedless  of  the  iron-storm  that 
beat  from  above  upon  them,  reached  it  and  began  to 
climb  like  mountain  goats,  the  steep  ascent.  Sometimes 
stopped  for  a  moment,  but  never  driven  back,  they  kept 
unwaveringly  on  till  they  entered  the  low  hanging  clouds, 
which  suddenly  wrapped  them  from  sight.  Grant  and 
Thomas,  and  others  down  in  Chattanooga,  gazed  anx- 
iously toward  the  hidden  summit,  and  listened  with  beat- 
ing hearts  to  the  crashing  vollies  and  deep  roar  of  artil- 
lery that  came  out  of  the  mysterious  bosom  of  the  clouds. 
Lookout,  for  the  time,  seemed  famed  Olympus  on  which 
Jupiter  was  thundering,  or  the  gods  contending  in  celes- 
tial fury.  Nought  could  be  seen,  and  though  the  heavy 
explosions  of  artillery  remained  stationary,  the  vollies  of 
musketry  seemed  to  creep  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  sum 
mit.  At  this  moment  of  intense  excitement,  the  fog  sud 
denly  lifted,  letting  down  the  light  of  heaven  upon  the 
mountain  top,  and  revealing  as  by  magic  to  the  gazing 
thousands  below,  a  scene  of  sublime  and  thrilling  interest 
There  amid  the  rocky  ledges,  in  front  of  the  rebel  works, 
stood  our  gallant  troops,  their  banners  mere  specks 
against  the  sky.  The  battle  was  raging  furiously,  for 
this  was  the  last  foothold  of  the  enemy — driven  from 
the  summit,  the  mountain  was  Hooker's.  The  whole 
army  in  Chattanooga  were  witnesses  of  this  strange  fight 
among  the  clouds,  and  when  at  length  they  saw  the 
enemy  driven  out  of  his  works,  and  our  banners  wave 
above  them,  they  broke  forth  into  a  shout  that  rent  the 
heavens,  and  long  loud  acclamations  surged  back^v^ard 


HIS    CORPS   AT   RESACA.  377 

and  forward  through  the  Valley.  There  was  shouting, 
too,  up  on  the  heights,  and  Hooker's  face  flushed,  and 
his  eye  kindled  as  he  stood  and  looked  down  on  the 
"cloud  of  witnesses"  to  his  victory,  below. 

He  now  opened  communications  with  Chattanooga, 
and  everything  was  ready  for  the  next  day's  fight.  In 
the  morning,  when  Sherman,  far  away  to  the  rebel  right, 
opened  the  battle,  he  moved  down  on  the  left.  His  at- 
tack, however,  was  delayed  for  several  hours,  on  account 
of  the  destruction  of  a  bridge  by  the  enemy  in  his  retreat, 
which  he  was  compelled  to  stop  and  rebuild,  so  that  it 
was  near  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  before  he  reached 
the  point  which  rendered  it  safe  for  Grant  to  order  the  as- 
sault. 

Hooker  did  not  come  up  till  Bragg  was  flying  in  ter- 
ror from  Missionary  Ridge,  but  he  joined  in  the  pursuit, 
and  day  and  night  pressed  the  enemy  with  such  vigor  that 
he  left  cannon,  caissons  and  trains,  scattered  all  along  the 
road.  Once  the  enemy  turned  and  caught  him  heavily, 
but  nothing  could  stop  his  progress  till  he  was  recalled, 
and  the  shattered,  demoralized  army  of  the  rebels  took 
refuge  in  Dalton. 

The  next  spring,  when  Sherman  organized  his  cam- 
paign against  Atlanta,  Hooker's  corps  was  joined  to  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under  Thomas.  A  part  of  his 
forces  assisted  McPherson  in  his  flank  movement  which 
compelled  the  evacuation  of  Dalton,  and  at  Resaca  he 
distinguished  himself  by  an  assault  on  the  enemy's  po- 
sition which  he  pressed  with  unprecedented  pertinacity. 
He  carried  line  after  line  of  rifle  pits,  but  at  last  Butter- 
field,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  column,  encountered  a 
lunette  which  defied  every  attempt  to  take  it.  Determined 
not  to  be  foiled,  he  charged  up  to  the  works  and  lay  down 


378  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOSEPH   HOOKER. 

under  them  for  protection.  So  near  were  the  soldiers 
that  they  could  touch  the  rebel  guns  with  their  hands. 
They  lay  here  all  night,  and  actually  dug  away  several 
pieces  of  artillery  and  pulled  them  down  into  their  midst 

Hooker  advanced  his  skirmish  line  at  ten  o'clock  at 
night,  lighting  -np  the  dark  mountain  sides  with  flashes  of 
.musketry,  but  valor  was  vain  against  the  impregnable 
heights,  and  Sherman  had  to  resort  again  to  flanking. 

In  doing  this  Hooker's  corps  came  upon  the  enemy 
.near  Dallas,  and  attacked  him  with  such  fury  that  he  was 
forced  back  step  by  step  towards  the  railroad  junction,  the 
vital  point  aimed  at.  He  might  have  secured  it,  but  for 
the  coming  on  of  night  and  a  driving  rain  storm.  This 
corps  bled  freely  at  every  step,  yet  at  the  close  of  each 
battle  Hooker  was  always  ready  for  another. 

Shortly  after,  at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  in  that  fierce, 
futile  assault,  his  corps,  though  defeated,  covered  itself 
with  glory.  As  many  battles  as  Hooker  had  been  in,  he 
never  made  a  more  desperate  charge  than  he  did  on  the 
impregnable  works  here. 

His  last  great  battle  was  on  the  20th  of  July,  when 
Hood  made  that  first  grand  assault  on  Thomas,  near  Peach 
Tree  Creek.  In  that  terrific  onslaught,  which,  for  a 
time,  terribly  shook  Thomas1  whole  line  of  battle,  Hooker 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  shock.  The  rest  of  the  army  had 
thrown  up  partial  intrenchments,  but  this  brave  old  corps 
stood  entirely  uncovered  in  the  field — their  firm  granite 
formations  their  only  defences,  and  never  did  its  grand  qual- 
ities shine  out  so  resplendently  as  on  this  occasion.  In 
deep  successive  lines  the  enemy  came  on,  shouting  like 
fiends,  and  charging  with  a  desperation  they  had  never 
before  exhibited.  Though  outnumbered,  Hooker  calmly 
awaited  the  onset,  for  it  was  one  of  these  fights  he  gloried 


A   FEARFUL   FIGHT.  379 

in.  There  were  no  complications  to  disturb  him — no 
works  to  flank  or  obstacles  to  remove.  It  was  a  fair  test 
of  heroic  valor — a  display  of  cool  generalship  and  indom- 
itable courage — a  quick,  close  death-grapple,  which  no 
enemy  ever  did  or  ever  will  make  with  Hooker  without 
remembering  it  to  his  latest  day.  It  is  impossible  to  des- 
cribe tins  battle — it  was  literally  a  field  of  slaughter — the 
valley  of  death.  Men  fell  like  grain  before  the  reaper — 
there  was  scarcely  a  moment's  cessation  to  the  close,  over- 
whelming volleys,  and  nought  could  be  seen  but  surging 
clouds  of  smoke,  except  now  and  then  as  they  parted,  a 
steadfast  line  of  blue  stood  revealed  on  which  headlong 

o 

masses  were  rolling,  while  shouts  and  cries,  blending 
strangely  in  with  the  horrid  din,  conspired  to  form  a  mad- 
dening spectacle.  Again  and  again  hurled  back,  only  to 
come  on  anew  with  more  desperate  ferocity,  the  rebels 
seemed  determined  to  be  annihilated  or  break  through 
that  steadfast  line.  Nearly  whole  companies  fell  together 
and  lay  in  death  as  they  had  stood  in  line.  It  is  no 
figure  of  speech  to  say  the  earth  was  heaped  with  the 
dead,  for  five  thousand  rebels  strewed  the  summer  fields, 
while  over  one  thousand  seven  hundred  on  our  side  swelled 
the  ghastly  number  that  made  the  circumscribed  spot  a 
Golgotha.  The  loss  in  Thomas'  army  fell  almost  entirely 
on  Hooker's  corps. 

His  military  career  was  now  drawing  to  a  close.  The 
death  of  McPherson,  a  few  days  after,  left  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  without  a  leader,  and  Howard,  command- 
ing the  Eleventh  Corps,  was  placed  at  its  head.  This 
offended  Hooker.  He  felt  that  in  putting  his  inferior  in 
rank  above  him,  after  all  his  services,  was  doing  him  a 
grievous  wrong— it  was  equivalent,  it  seemed  to  him,  to 
a  condemnation  of  his  conduct.  Besides,  he  felt  that  the 


380  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER. 

great  motive  to  hazard  one's  life  on  the  battle-field  was 
taken  away,  for  no  matter  how  patriotic  a  leader  may  be, 
he  fights  for  promotion  as  well  as  for  his  country.  More- 
over, Hooker  is  not  of  a  temperament  to  submit  to  what 
he  believes  an  injustice,  or  indignity,  and  he  at  once  resign- 
ed and  came  home. 

It  is  hard  to  blame  him  for  this  step.  By  the  rules 
which  govern  military  men,  we  cannot  see  how  he  could 
well  do  otherwise.  Nor  should  Sherman  be  blamed,  for 
there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  governed  by  personal 
feelings,  or  yielded  in  any  way  to  favoritism.  He  was 
unquestionably  controlled  by  the  best  motives,  and  doubt- 
less had  reasons  which  he  has  not  deemed  proper  to  give 
to  the  public.  It  was  plainly  his  duty  to  do  that  which 
he  believed  the  best  interests  of  his  country  and  the  wel- 
fare of  the  army  required.  One  thing  is  plain,  Hooker 
is  not  so  tractable  a  subordinate  as  he  ought  to  be ;  and 
he  has  shown  from  the  outset  that  he  indulges  in  too  great 
license  in  speaking  of  his  superiors. 

His  personal  appearance  gives  no  indication  of  his  re- 
solute, determined  character,  though  his  tall,  command- 
ing form  makes  him  a  conspicuous  leader.  With  light 
eyes  and  fair  complexion,  he  would  not  be  singled  cut  in 
a  crowd  as  one  distinguished  for  anything ;  still,  he  has 
those  military  qualities  which  would  have  arrested  the 
eye  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  under  him,  like  Murat  and 
rNey,  he  would  have  risen  to  be  a  marshal  of  the  empire. 

General  Hooker  was  subsequently  put  over  the  Ohio 
Department,  and  established  his  headquarters  in  Cincin- 
nati ;  but  from  the  fall  of  Atlanta  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  was  employed  no  more  in  the  field.  He  now  commands 
the  New  England  division  of  the  Department  of  the 
Atlantic,  with  his  headquarters  at  New  York  City. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 


MAJOR-GENERAL  HENRY  WARNER  SLOCUM. 

THE  BENEFIT  OF  WEST  POINT  ACADEMY — SLOCUM's  BIRTH — GRAEUATE8  AT 
TYEST  POINT— SENT  TO  FLORIDA — STATIONED  AT  CHARLESTON — STUDIES 
LAW — RESIGNS  HIS  COMMISSION  AND  OPENS  A  LAW  OFFICE  IN  SYRACUSE — 
VOLUNTEERS  IN  THE  ARMY  AND  19  MADE  COLONEL — WOUNDED  AT  BULL 
EUN — MADE  BRIGADIER-GENERAL — COMMANDS  A  DIVISION — HIS  CAREER  OH 
THE  PENINSULA  UNDER  M^CLELLAN — AT  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN  AND  ANTIETAM 
— SUPERSEDES  BANKS — AT  CHANCELLORSVILLE — COMMANDS  TOE  LEFT  WING 
AT  GETTYSBURG — IS  SENT  INTO  TENNESSEE — PROTECTS  THE  COMMUNICA- 
TIONS BETWEEN  CHATTANOOGA  AND  NASHVILLE — PLACED  OVER  THE  DE- 
PARTMENT OF  VICKSBURG DESTROYS  THE  BRIDGES  OVER  PEARL  RIVER — 

CUT  OFF  BY  THE  ENEMY — DEFEATS  HIM — EXPEDITION  TO  PORT  GIBSON — 
A  NIGHT  ATTACK — TAKES  HOOKER'S  PLACE  AS  COMMANDER  OF  THE  TWEN- 
TIETH CORPS — ENTERS  ATLANTA — PLACED  OVER  THE  LEFT  WING  OF  SHERr 
MAN'S  ARMY — MARCH  THROUGH  GEORGIA — THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS — 
BATTLES  OF  AVERYSBORO*  AND  BENTONVILLE — HIS  CHARACTER. 

THE  true  value  of  West  Point  was  never  known  till 
it  was  developed  by  this  war.  For  years,  the  nation  had 
been  educating  young  men  to  the  profession  of  arms, 
many  of  whom,  soon  growing  tired  of  the  monotonous 
duty  of  holding  posts  on  our  distant  frontier,  and  of  chas- 
ing Indians,  resigned  their  commissions,  and  entered  other 
professions.  Their  education,  therefore,  seemed  thrown 
away;  as  the  Government  apparently  received  no  benefit 
from  it.  But  as  soon  as  this  war  broke  out,  all  over  the 
land — from  banks,  law  offices,  and  counting-houses,  they 


382  MAJOR-GENERAL  HENRY  WARNER   SLOCUM. 

started  forth,  men  of  thorough  military  education,  ready 
to  step  to  the  head  of  our  armies  and  lead  them  to  vic- 
tory. The  absurd  attempt  to  extemporize  generals  from 
political  life,  after  costing  us  much  precious  blood  and 
treasure,  had  to  be  given  up,  and  men  of  military  educa- 
tion take  charge  of  our  armies.  The  nation  then  saw  the 
rich  fruit  of  the  military  school  at  West  Point. 

Prominent  among  these  is  General  Slocum.  A  highly 
esteemed  lawyer  in  Syracuse,  his  early  education  had 
been  forgotten  in  the  profession  which  he  expected  to  fol- 
low for  the  rest  of  his  life.  But  at  the  call  to  arms,  his 
briefs  were  thrown  aside,  his  cases  dismissed,  and  he 
went  forth  to  pay  back  to  his  country,  a  hundredfold,  the 
expenses  of  his  education. 

Henry  Warner  Slocum  was  born  in  Delphi,  Onon- 
daga  Co.,  N.  Y.,  September  24th,  1827.  Receiving  the 
appointment  of  cadet  to  West  Point,  he  entered  the 
Academy,  and  graduated  in  1852.  Being  appointed 
second  lieutenant  in  the  First  Artillery,  he,  in  the  au- 
tumn, was  sent  to  Florida.  Promoted  to  first  lieutenant, 
he  was  transferred  to  Charleston  harbor,  where  he  re- 
mained till  1857.  Becoming  tired  of  garrison  life,  he 
determined  to  enter  another  profession,  and  so,  while  here, 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  B.  C.  Pres- 
ley, sub-treasurer  at  Charleston.  Having  finished  his 
studies,  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  returning  to  his 
native  county,  opened  a  law  office  in  Syracuse,  where 
the  rebellion  found  him.  Roused  by  the  call  of  his  coun- 
try, he  offered  his  services,  and  was  appointed,  in  May, 
colonel  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  New  York 
Volunteers.  This  regiment  formed  a  part  of  McDowell's 
army,  when  it  moved  on  Manassas ;  and  in  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run  that  followed,  he  was  shot  through  the  thigh. 


EAPID   PROMOTION.  383 

-• 

His  behaviour  in  this,  his  first  fight,  received  special  men- 
tion from  his  immediate  commander,  Porter,  who  says : 
"  Colonel  Slocum  was  wounded  while  leading  his  gallant 
Twenty-seventh  to  the  charge." 

Next  August,  he  received  the  appointment  of  brig- 
adier-general, and  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a 
brigade  in  Franklin's  division.  When  the  latter  was 
given  the  command  of  the  Sixth  Provisional  Corps,  he 
took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  division.  His  rapid 
promotion  shows  that  he  exhibited  rare  ability. 

He  lay  along  the  Chickahominy  during  that  fatal 
summer,  taking  no  part  in  the  engagements  that  occurred, 
until  the  seven  days'  battle  commenced.  Being  sent  to 
the  aid  of  General  Porter,  when  so  sorely  pressed  at 
Games'  Mill,  he  helped  to  beat  back  the  enemy  on  that 
terrible  day.  In  the  retreat  to  the  James  Biver,  he,  on 
the  last  day  of  June,  held  the  right  of  the  main  line  of 
the  battle  on  Charles  City  road,  and  though  attacked  by 
superior  numbers,  firmly  maintained  his  ground. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  while  the  army  lay  along  the 
James  River,  he  was  made  major-general. 

Commanding  a  division  in  the  Maryland  campaign, 
under  McClellan,  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  South 
Mountain ;  and  at  Antietam,  when  Franklin  crossed  the 
creek  at  one  o'clock,  and  came  to  the  help  of  Hooker,  he 
was  sent  forward  with  his  division,  and  nobly  resisted  the 
farther  advance  of  the  enemy. 

In  October,  he  was  assigned  to  the  corps  previously 
under  General  Banks,  but  after  the  failure  of  Burnside's 
attack  on  Fredericksburg,  was  ordered  to  reinforce  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  When  Hooker,  who  had  super- 
seded Burnside,  crossed  the  Bappahannock  to  give  Lee 
battle  at  Chancellorsville,  Slocum  had  under  him  the  Fifth, 


384  MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY  WARNER   SLOCUM. 

Eleventh,  and  Twelfth  Corps.  On  both  days  of  that  dis- 
astrous fight,  his  position  was  near  the  solitary  house  of 
the  place,  and  throughout  the  fight  and  retreat  he  show- 
ed himself  to  be  the  cool,  self-poised,  and  prompt  com- 
mander that  he  had  always  been,  and  which  made  him 
distinguished  even  in  the  brilliant  group  of  generals  of 
which  he  was  a  member. 

But  at  Gettysburg,  his  qualities  as  a  great  leader 
shone  forth  with  increased  splendor.  He  was  marching 
rapidly  toward  that  place  on  the  day  when  Reynolds  was 
beaten  back  and  killed.  Howard,  who  then  assumed 
command,  finding  himself  severely  pressed,  sent  back 
courier  after  courier  to  him  and  Sickles  to  come  to  his 
relief.  Holding  grimly  on  to  Cemetery  Hill,  he  turned 
his  eye  anxiously  in  the  direction  from  which  they  would 
make  their  appearance,  and  at  length,  toward  evening,  when 
he  caught  sight  of  Slocuin's  long  line  of  bayonets  moving 
swiftly  forward,  a  heavy  load  lifted  from  his  heart. 

In  the  next  day's  battle  Slocum  commanded  the  right 
of  the  army,  composed  of  the  Twelfth  Corps,  a  part  of 
the  Second  and  Sixth,  and,  at  times,  the  Fifth  Corps. 
But  little  demonstration  was  made  against  his  strong  po- 
sition during  the  day,  for  Lee  was  apparently  determined 
to  crush  the  left  wing,  and  hence  massed  his  troops  there 
in  overwhelming  numbers.  So  heavily  was  this  wing 
pressed  that  again  and  again  Slocum  was  called  upon  for 
reinforcements,  which  he  kept  sending  till  he  had  but  a 
thin  line  to  defend  his  own  position.  The  enemy,  baffled 
in  his  determined  efforts  to  break  the  left,  and  apparently 
ascertaining  how  weak  Slocum  had  become,  just  at  night 
fell  furiously  upon  him.  With  his  slender  force,  the  latter 
bore  up  for  awhile  with  heroic  firmness  against  this  sudden, 
overwhelming  attack,  and  rode  along  the  line,  steadying  it 


AT   GETTYSBURG.  385 

by  his  presence  and  voice.  But  he  could  not  get  his 
troops  back  from  the  left  fast  enough,  nor  did  reinforce- 
ments reach  him  soon  enough  from  any  quarter  to  enable 
him  to  maintain  his  ground,  and  he  was  compelled  to  fall 
back  a  short  distance,  abandoning  some  rifle-pits,  and  a 
strong  position  to  the  enemy.  The  latter,  elated  by  his 
success,  now  pressed  forward  with  shouts  to  complete  the 
victory,  and  from  dusk  till  ten  o'clock  at  night,  the  battle 
raged  furiously  at  this  point,  lighting  up  the  whole  land- 
scape with  flame.  Ewell  commanded  the  rebel  forces, 
and  though  he  made  superhuman  efforts  to  press  the  ad- 
vantage he  had  gained,  he  was  repulsed  in  every  attempt 
with  fearful  slaughter.  Still,  he  held  that  strong  position, 
which  must  be  retaken,  or  the  next  day's  battle  might  be 
lost.  Slocuin  felt  this,  and  smarting  under  the  defeat  he 
had  suffered  from  the  withdrawal  of  his  troops  to  succor 
the  left,  determined,  at  all  hazards,  to  win  it  back. 
Gathering  up  his  forces,  therefore,  he,  with  the  first  break 
of  day,  moved  steadily  on  the  enemy.  Ewell,  seeing  his 
approach,  at  once  ordered  a  headlong  charge,  the  like  of 
which  is  seldom  witnessed.  "  It  was  desperation  against 
courage.  The  fire  of  the  enemy  was  mingled  with  yells, 
pitched  even  above  its  clangor.  They  came  on  and  on, 
while  Slocum's  troops,  splendidly  handled  and  well 
posted,  stood  unshaken  to  receive  them.  The  fire  with 
which  it  did  receive  them  was  so  rapid  and  so  thick  as  to 
envelope  the  ranks  of  its  deliverers  with  a  pall  that  shut 
them  from  sight  during  the  battle,  which  raged  thence- 
forward for  six  dreary  hours.  Out  of  this  pall  no 
stragglers  came  to  the  rear.  The  line  scarcely  flinched 
from  its  position  during  the  entire  conflict.  Huge  masses 
of  rebel  infantry  threw  themselves  into  it  again  and  again 
in  vain.  Back,  as  a  ball  hurled  against  a  rock,  those 


386  MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY   WARNER   SLOCUM. 

masses  recoiled,  and  were  reformed  to  be  hurled  anew 
against  it  with  a  fierceness  unfruitful  of  success — fruitful 
of  carnage  as  before.  It  seemed  as  if  the  gray-uniformed 
troops,  who  were  advanced  and  readvanced  by  their 
officers  up  to  the  very  edge  of  the  line  of  smoke,  were  im- 
pelled by  some  terror. in  their  rear,  which  they  were  as 
unable  to  withstand  as  they  were  to  make  headway 
against  the  fire  in  their  front.  It  was  hard  to  believe 
such  desperation  voluntary.  It  was  harder  to  believe 
that  the  army  which  withstood  and  defeated  it  was 
mortal." 

So  did  Slocum  fight  on  this  second  eventful  day,  until 
the  enemy,  beaten  at  all  points,  gave  it  up,  and  fell  back 
disheartened.  The  peril  in  which  he  suddenly  found 
himself  brought  out  all  the  reserve  force  of  his  nature, 
and  the  responsibility  unexpectedly  thrown  upon  him 
exalted,  instead  of  depressed,  him.  It  is  not  the  winning 
of  a  single  battle,  but  the  proving  equal  to  any  emer- 
gency, even  the  greatest,  that  tests  the  true  quality  of  a 
military  leader — nay,  this  alone  stamps  him  the  great 
commander. 

The  defeat  of  Hosecrans  at  Chickamauga,  late  in  the 
fall,  necessitated  the  sending  of  immediate  reinforcements 
to  him,  and  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Corps,  commanded 
by  Howard  and  Slocum,  were  rapidly  transferred  thither 
by  railroad.  On  their  arrival  in  Tennessee,  Slocum,  with 
a  portion  of  the  Twelfth  Corps  and  other  troops  was  left 
to  guard  the  line  of  communication  between  Nashville 
and  Chattanooga.  He  remained  here  till  the  next  spring, 
when,  in  organizing  his  army  for  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
Sherman  consolidated  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Corps, 
forming  the  Twentieth,  which  was  placed  under  Hooker 
He  was  now  placed  in  command  of  the  District  of  Vicks- 


TWO   SUCCESSFUL   FIGHTS.  '387 

burg,  embracing  both  sides  of  the  river,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  White  to  that  of  the  Bed  Kiver. 

In  June,  Sherman,  on  the  march  for  Atlanta,  sent 
Slocum  a  dispatch,  directing  him  to  take  such  troops  as 
could  be  spared  from  the  garrisons  of  Vicksburg,  and  at- 
tempt the  destruction  of  the  railroad  bridges  over  the 
Pearl  Kiver  at  Jackson.  Though  he  could  muster  a  force 
of  but  twenty-three  hundred  he  succeeded  in  accomplish- 
ing the  task  assigned  him.  But  the  rebels  in  the  mean- 
time had  concentrated  all  the  troops  in  the  State  in  his 
rear,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  his  return,  and  occupy- 
ing a  strong  position,  felt  confident  of  holding  it  and 
thus  securing  his  destruction.  •  Slocum  saw  at  once  that  it 
must  be  carried  at  all  hazards ;  still  the  odds  were  heavily 
against  him,  for  not  only  was  the  rebel  force  equal  in 
numbers  to  his  own,  but  they  had  the  advantage  of  a 
strong  position,  while  he  could  bring  but  a  portion  of  his 
little  army  into  action,  as  he  had  a  large  train  to  protect. 
He,  however,  moved  boldly  against  it  on  the  4th  of  July, 
and,  after  a  sharp  contest,  drove  the  enemy  back  and 
cleared  the  road  to  Vicksburg. 

The  next  week,  in  order  to  keep  reinforcements  from 
reaching  Hood,  he  started  an  expedition  to  Port  Gibson. 
He  had  nearly  reached  Grand  Gulf,  when  the  enemy  sud- 
denly came  down  on  him  in  a  night  attack,  expecting  to 
take  him  by  surprise  and  sweep  his  camp  in  one  over- 
whelming charge.  But  Slocum  was  the  last  man  to  be 
caught  in  this  way,  which  the  enemy  found  to  his  cost,  for 
he  was  not  only  repulsed,  but  lost  many  officers  and  men, 
among  whom  was  the  commander,  Major  Peyton,  taken 
prisoner. 

When  Hooker  was  relieved  from  the  command  of  the 
Twentieth  Corps  before  Atlanta,  Slocum  took  his  place, 

25 


388     x        MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY   WARNER   SLOCUM. 

but  during  that  bold  movement  round  Atlanta  to  the 
Macon  Road,  he  remained  on  the  Chattahoochie,  guard- 
ing the  communications.  On  the  night  of  the  evacuation, 
he,  though  seven  miles  away,  heard  the  explosions  taking 
place  in  the  city,  and  saw  the  heavens  lurid  with  the 
flames  of  burning  railroad  trains  and  cotton,  and  suspectr 
ing  the  cause,  sent  out  early  in  the  morning  a  reconnois- 
sance  towards  the  enemy's  works.  Finding  them  aban- 
doned, he,  with  banners  flying  and  bands  playing,  marched 
into  the  city  and  took  up  his  headquarters  at  the  Trout 
House. 

When  Sherman  planned  his  great  campaign  across 
Georgia,  he  divided  his  army  of  over  50,000  men  into 
-two  wings,  and  to  show  his  appreciation  of  Slocum,  gave 
;him  command  of  the  left,  composed  of  the  Fourteenth 
,  and  Twentieth  Corps.  A  greater  compliment  could  not 
•have  been  paid  him. 

While  Howard,  commanding  the  right  wing,   moved 
.down  the  Macon  Road,  he  was  to  march  eastward  along 
<the  Atlanta  and  Augusta  Railroad,   destroying  it  as  he 
<  advanced.     On  the  15th  day  of  November,  he  "marched 
•  out  on  separate  roads,  and  began  to  destroy  the  railroad, 
dnch  by  inch,  burning  depots,  cotton-gins,  shops,  factories 
;and  all  public  buildings.     A  long  line  of   conflagration 
.marked  his  passage,  sending  terror  through  the  country 
that  till  now  had  deemed  itself  secure  from  the  ravages  of 
war.     When  near  Covington,  one  of  his  soldiers,  while 
out  on  a  foraging  expedition  was  killed  by  bushwhackers. 
He  immediately  put  in  force  the  threat  of  retaliation, 
.made  by  Sherman,  and  the  torch  soon  laid  waste  the 
habitations  of  the  peaceful  dwellers  of  the  place,  near 
which  the  bushwhackers  were  encountered.     In  this  fear- 
ful, retribution,  unfortunately  the  Methodist  College  of 


GEORGIA    CAMPAIGN.  ,       389 

Oxford  was  destroyed,  and  with  it  the  large  library  it 
contained,  with  all  its  cabinet  and  apparatus,  which  cost 
nearly  a  million  of  dollars.  This  was  a  cause  of  deep 
regret,  for  institutions  of  learning,  books,  and  those  things 
that  can  be  used  only  in  the  advance  of  peaceful  science, 
should  be  sacred  even  in  war,  and  the  torch  that  kindles 
private  dwellings  should  spare  colleges  and  books. 

Slocum1  s  two  corps  turned  off,  one  at  Madison,  and 
the  other  at  Covington,  and  moved  south  to  Milledge- 
ville,  the  capital  of  the  State,  reaching  it  one  day  before 
Howard,  with  Sherman,  entered  it.  As  he  rode  in  with 
his  staff,  the  Mayor  and  officers  of  the  city  met  him, 
formally  tendering  its  surrender,  and  begging  that  private 
property  might  be  saved  from  destruction,  and  the  people 
from  violence.  Slocum  curtly  replied  that  he  did  not 
command  a  band  of  desperadoes  and  cut-throats. 

His  march  thus  far  had  been  through  the  fat  of  the 
land,  and  the  soldiers,  having  no  enemy  to  fight,  improved  in 
their  appearance  and  grew  hilarious  and  jovial.  His  train 
of  six  hundred  wagons  was  all  brought  through  safely, 
a  dusky  cloud  of  negroes  accompanying  it,  loaded 
down  with  such  household  furniture  as  they  could  carry 
on  their  backs. 

At  Milledgeville,  the  two  wings  united  and  moved  on 
together,  though  Slocum  continued  to  threaten  Augusta, 
as  at  first,  until  they  reached  Millen,  some  eighty  miles 
from  Savannah.  Here  the  whole  army  wheeled  south, 
and  entering  the  vast  stretches  of  pines,  moved  rapidly 
down  toward  the  city. 

.  One  of  the  divisions  of  his  corps,  under  General  Geary 
was  the  first  to  enter  it,  and  received  its  surrender  from 
the  Mayor. 

When  Sherman,  after  his  month's  rest,  started  on  his 


390  MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY   WARNER   SLOCUM. 

northward  march,  Slocum,  still  commanding  the  left 
wing,  was  sent  up  the  Savannah  on  his  old  mission — -to 
threaten  Augusta.  He  marched  up  both  sides  of  the 
river  till  he  came  to  Sister's  Ferry,  where  he  brought  his 
army  together  on  the  Carolina  shore.  It  took,  however, 
several  days  to  accomplish  this,  for  the  winter  rains  had 
swollen  the  river  till  it  overflowed  the  banks,  and  covered 
all  the  surrounding  country ;  turning  the  low  and  level 
fields  into  a  broad  lake  three  miles  wide.  Such  a  flood  had 
not  been  known  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  Providence  had  determined  in  this  critical  juncture 
to  bring  Slocum  to  a  long  halt.  He  looked  at  the  vast 
spreading  sea  before  him  with  a  good  deal  of  anxiety, 
but,  though  the  necessity  was  urgent  that  he  should  move 
immediately,  he  was  compelled  to  wait  here  till  the  wa- 
ters began  to  subside!  As  soon,  however,  as  the  crossing 
could  be  commenced  with  any  degree  of  safety,  he  put 
his  army  in  motion.  Over  the  inundated  fields — the 
ranks  often  standing  waist-deep  in  the  flood — and  along 
roads  still  half  covered  with  water,  the  columns  moved 
rapidly  inland* 

When  he  reached  solid  ground,  in  order  to  make  up 
for  lost  time,  he  marched  eighteen  miles  a  day,  although 
cavalry  were  constantly  hovering  around  his  front,  de- 
stroying bridges  over  the  swollen  streams,  and  felling 
trees  across  the  roads,  thus  obstructing  and  delaying  his 
progress.  Rebridging  the  streams,  and  clearing  the 
roads,  made  his  march  exceedingly  laborious,  but  the 
troops  which  had  lived  so  luxuriously  in  Georgia,  now 
showed  that  they  could  endure  hardships  cheerfully.  It- 
rained  almost  incessantly,  making  the  fields  and  roads 
horrible,  and  the  night  encampments  gloomy  and  cold, 
but  not  a  murmur  was  heard.  With  the  morning  light, 


IN    SOUTH   CAROLINA.  391 

the  bugle-call  roused  them  alike  in  stormy  and  pleasant 
weather,  and  they  pushed  on  over  the  dreary  country 

The  enemy  persisted  in  believing  that  Charleston,  the 
hot-bed  of  secession,  and  the  object  of  so  many  attacks  by 
our  iron-clad  fleet,  and  the  goal  toward  which  Gilmore, 
with  such  wonderful  engineering  skill,  had  worked  so 
long,  must  be  the  prize  Sherman  was  after,  and  knowing 
that  the  preservation  of  the  railroads  running  into  it  by 
way  of  Branchville  was  indispensable  to  its  safety,  held 
the  line  of  the  Edisto,  which  protected  these,  till  the  last 
moment.  But  when  at  length  the  rebel  leaders  were 
told  that  Slocum  was  within  thirty  miles  of  Augusta,  and 
Kilpatrick  within  about  half  that  distance,  they  concluded 
that  Sherman  had  duped  them,  and  that  Augusta,  and 
not  Charleston,  w^as  his  real  point  of  destination.  But 
that  city  was  full  of  machine  shops,  laboratories,  arsenals, 
rolling  stock,  and  cotton,  and  must  be  held  at  all  haz- 
ards, and  Wheeler,  who  had  been  in  front,  hurried 
off  to  defend  it,  as  did  also  Cheatham's  corps  of  Hood's 
army. 

The  main  object  of  the  long  march  toward  that  city 
now  being  accomplished,  Slocum  suddenly  turned  his 
back  on  the  place,  and  wheeling  to  the  north  and  east, 
swept  through  the  upper  portions  of  the  State,  separating 
Charleston  from  Augusta. 

Having  accomplished  the  work  assigned  him,  he,  in 
conjunction  with  the  other  wing,  marched  rapidly  toward 
Columbia,  and  struck  the  Saluda  about  two  miles  west 
of  the  city.  Ordering  the  bridges  over  Broad  River 
to  be  destroyed,  he  prevented  Cheatham,  who  had  hastened 
from  Augusta  as  soon  as  he  discovered  Sherman's  real 
design,  from  getting  in  his  front — for  the  rebel  com- 
mander, having  no  pontoons,  was  compelled  to  keep  on 


392  MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY   WARNER   SLOCUM. 

up  stream  till  he  could  find  a  ford,  and  thus  was  left  far 
in  the  rear. 

"When  the  army  left  Columbia,  Slocum  was  still  Sher 
man's  left  hand  to  feint  with,  while  he  struck  with  his 
right.  All  the  way  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah  he  had 
done  this,  threatening  Augusta  with  this  wing,  while  his 
real  object  was  Savannah.  So,  when  he  left  Savannah, 
he  feinted  again  with  it  on  the  same  place,  while  he  struck 
at  Columbia;  and  now  for  the  third  time  he  with  it 
threatened  Charlotte,  thus  holding  Johnston  there,  and 
uncovering  Fayetteville,  the  point  he  designed  to  reach. 

Kilpatrick,  all  this  time  was  covering  Slocum's  flank, 
and  by  his  skilful  movements  enabled  him  to  cross  Lynch 
River  without  opposition,  the  passage  being  effected  just 
before  dark.  The  country  beyond  it,  which  he  must  tra- 
verse before  he  reached  high  ground,  was  a  horrible  one 
to  carry  troops  and  artillery  over ;  yet,  all  night  long  he 
struggled  onward  through  gloomy  swamps  and  over  rain- 
swollen  streams,  the  bridges  of  which  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  enemy.  This  night  march  is  one  that  he  and  his 
troops  will  long  remember.  To  a  less  resolute  man  the 
route  he  took  would  have  seemed  impassable.  Torches 
were  kindled  to  light  up  the  gloom,  while  the  soldiers, 
standing  to  their  waists  in  water  and  mud,  laid  pontoons, 
or  built  corduroy  crossings  over  treacherous  places  in  the 
swamps.  Now  moving  in  the  glare  of  torches,  and  now 
lost  in  the  deep  shadows  of  the  forests,  the  army  looked 
like  a  spirit  host  moving  through  the  shadowy  realms  of 
the  unseen  world.  Daylight  brought  no  improvement, 
except  that  it  made  the  gloom  and  difficulties  of  the  route 
more  apparent.  "Weary,  hungry,  and  covered  with  mud, 
the  army  floundered  on  all  the  forenoon,  and  not  till 
twelve  o'clock,  the  9th  of  March,  did  it  reach  solid  ground, 


BATTLE   OF   BENTONVILLE.  393 

Here  it  halted  for  a  short  rest,  and  then  resuming  its 
march  toward  Fayetteville,  at  Cheraw,  met  for  the  first 
time  since  it  left  Savannah,  the  right  wing. 

When  Sh'erman  finally  left  Fayetteville  to  march  on 
Goldsboro',  he  ordered  Slocum  to  move  up  the  river 
and  threaten  Raleigh.  Kilpatrick,  marching  in  ad- 
vance with  his  cavalry,  about  six  miles  from  Averys- 
boro',  met  a  heavy  body  of  rebel  infantry  coming 
down  from  Raleigh,  evidently  to  take  position  at 
a  ravine  that  extended  from  the  river  to  an  impenetrable 
swamp.  Seeing  how  important  it  was  that  this  should 
be  prevented,  he  determined  to  hold  the  force  at 
bay  till  Slocum,  six  miles  in  his  rear,  could  come  up. 
Taking  a  strong  position,  he  sent  back  to  the  former  a 
courier  urging  him  to  hurry  forward  with  all  possible 
speed.  Slocum  immediately  ordered  General  Williams 
with  the  Twentieth  Corps  to  push  on,  while  he  followed 
with  his  other  corps — the  Fourteenth.  The  former  ar- 
rived in  time  to  drive  the  enemy  back  at  all  points,  and 
over  and  out  of  his  first  line  of  works,  capturing  three 
guns.  Slocum  now  came  on  the  field  with  his  staff,  and 
forming  his  line  of  battle,  steadily  advanced  upon  the  en- 
emy, pushing  him  remorselessly  back  till  late  in  the  night. 
Johnston,  finding  that  he  could  not  resist  his  advance,  re- 
treated under  cover  of  the  darkness.  The  rebel  commander 
now  discovered  that  Sherman  was  aiming  at  Golds- 
boro\  not  Raleigh ;  and  hastily  calling  in  Hardee,  moved 
to  Ejentonville,  and  entrenched.  Slocum,  moving  in  the 
same  direction,  came  upon  him  unexpectedly,  and  though 
at  first  he  thought  that  only  a  small  detachment  was  in 
his  front,  he  soon  discovered  that  he  had  the  combined 
armies  of  Johnston,  Hardee'  and  Hoke,  on  his  hands.  His 
position  he  saw  at  a  glance  was  one  full  of  peril,  and  he 


394  MAJOR-GENERAL   HENRY  WARNER   SLOCUM. 

despatched  a  courier  to  Sherman,  who  had  left  him  an 
hour  and  a  half  before,  to  inform  him  of  the  state  of  af- 
fairs. In  the  meantime,  he  chose  an  admirable  position, 
and  posted  his  artillery  so  as  to  sweep  his  entire  front 
He  then  sent  on  Morgan's  division  to  establish  another 
line,  half  a  mile  in  advance.  Johnston,  seeing  the  com- 
parative smallness  of  this  force,  suddenly  advanced  in 
overwhelming  numbers,  and  overpowering  it  by  sheer 
weight  of  numbers,  hurled  it  broken  and  disorderly  back, 
with  the  loss  of  three  guns,  to  the  strong  line  that  Slocum 
with  such  admirable  forecast  had  selected.  Hastily  throw- 
ing up  breastworks  of  rails  and  earth,  the  latter  now 
waited  till  the  rest  of  his  army  could  come  up.  The 
Fourteenth  Corps  and  the  balance  of  the  Twentieth  soon 
appeared  in  sight,  and  swept  rapidly  along  into  the  posi- 
tions assigned  them.  It  was  now  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  Slocum  had  hardly  got  everything  ready  when 
the  enemy  was  seen  coming  boldly  down  in  three  mas- 
sive columns.  Like  Hood's  at  Atlanta,  the  onset  was  one 
of  the  most  desperate  of  the  war.  In  successive  waves, 
one  column  followed  another,  determined  to  carry  Slo- 
cum's  position  at  any  sacrifice.  Mowed  down  by  our 
batteries,  and  the  terrible  fire  of  the  infantry,  the  first 
column  reeled  backwards  and  broke,  when  the  second 
column  came  on  in  the  same  headlong  desperation.  But 
right  in  their  path  was  Davis'  corps,  that  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  under  Thomas,  rolled  back  column  after  column 
of  the  foe — and  stopped  it  with  one  terrible  blow.  The 
whole  fury  of  the  attack  spent  itself  in  less  than  an  hour, 
and  yet  in  that  time  the  enemy  made  six  successive  as- 
saults. The  last  charge  broke  for  a  moment  Slocum's  line ; 
but  it  recovered  its  position,  and  the  rebel  army,  baffled 
and  discouraged,  fell  back  to  its  entrenchments.  So  close 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  395 

and  murderous  was  the  combat,  that  many  of  the  enemy's 
dead  lay  within  our  lines,  and  even  around  the  head- 
quarters of  the  generals.  For  the  time  it  lasted,  it  was 
one  of  the  most  sanguinary  battles  of  the  war,  and  the 
only  serious  one  fought  between  Atlanta  and  Haleigh. 
Sherman  had  expected  this  battle ;  but  did  not  intend  to 
have  it  thrown  on  Slocum  alone,  and  was  strongly  excited 
when  he  first  heard  of  it.  Sending  word  to  him  to  stand 
fast,  he  hurried  Howard  over  to  his  relief,  and  though 
the  next  day  some  severe  fighting  was  done,  Johnston, 
seeing  what  a  heavy  force  was  concentrating  against  him, 
withdrew  in  the  night,  leaving  the  road  open  to  Golds- 
boro\ 

No  better  fighting  was  seen  during  the  war  than  at 
Bentonville,  on  the  19th  of  March,  for  Johnston  must 
have  had  double  the  number  of  Slocum,  and  a  less  able 
general  would  have  been  overborne. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  all  the  real  heavy  fighting 
between  Savannah  and  Raleigh  was  done  by  Slocum's 
left  wing,  for  Bentonville  was  Slocum's  battle.  From  the 
day  that  he  started  till  now,  he  had  not  made  a  single 
mistake,  and  fully  justified  the  confidence  that  Sherman 
had  reposed  in  him. 

HIS   CHARACTER. 

General  Slocum  is  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance, 
being  above  the  medium  height,  and  possessing  a  man- 
ner that  at  once  attracts  the  beholder.  His  long  brown 
wavy  hair  is  pushed  back  behind  his  ears,  which  gives 
additional  force  to  the  frank,  open  expression  of  his 
countenance.  His  eyes  are  brown  and  sparkle  with  light, 
while  his  whole  expression  inspires  confidence  and  trust, 


396  MAJOR-GENEEAL   HENRY  WARNER   SLOCUM. 

and  gives  him  a  sort  of  magnetic  power  over  his  troops. 
Probably  there  is  no  general  in  the  service  who  is  more 
thoroughly  master  of  all  the  details  of  his  profession  than 
he.  A  lover  of  order  and  a  strict  disciplinarian,  he 
brought  the  Twentieth  Corps  to  a  state  of  perfection  that 
has  given  it  a  national  reputation.  It  was  of  vftal  im- 
portance to  Sherman  in  the  novel  campaigns  he  was 
entering  upon,  to  have  commanders  over  the  two  wings 
of  his  army  that  never  made  mistakes,  and  it  was  on  this 
account  he  brought  Slocum  from  Vicksburg  to  be  his  left 
hand  in  the  long  march  he  contemplated.  Probably  no 
commander  ever  leaned  with  such  implicit  confidence  on 
three  subordinates,  as  Sherman  did  on  Thomas.  Howard 
and  Slocum. 

Slocum's  character  cannot  be  better  summed  up  than 
in  the  language  of  an  eminent  judge,  who  in  a  private 
letter  never  designed  to  be  made  public,  says:  "He  was 
always  equal  to  the  task  set  before  him,  and  never  was 
known  to  fail  in  any  enterprise  which  he  undertook.  He 
is  certainly  one  of  the  most  persevering  and  indefatigable 
men  I  ever  knew,  and  was  always  esteemed  lucky,  while 
it  was  plain  to  me  that  his  successes  were  the  result  of 
calculation  and  the  most  indomitable  energy.  While  he 
is  modest  and  unobtrusive,  he  possesses  genius  of  the 
highest  order,  and  a  well  balanced  mind ;  always  cool 
and  ready  to  baffle  difficulties,  whether  small  or  great; 
for  he  has  inexhaustible  mental  resources  in  an  emer- 
gency, and  can  bring  them  to  bear  with  wonderful  power 
in  the  right  direction  and  at  the  proper  moment  to  insure 
success. 

"  I  consider  him  qualified  for  the  highest  stations 
in  the  gift  of  the  Government;  but  his  proverbial  mo- 
desty will  probably  keep  him  back  from  reaching  any  of 


HIS   CHARACTER.  397 

them.  And  he  seems  to  have  no  ambition  in  that  direc- 
tion." 

This  is  high  praise,  but  strictly  just.  To  this  might 
be  added — he  exhibits  a  wonderful,  as  the  French  term 
it,  "coup  d'oeiV  on  a  battle-field,  taking  it  in  with  all  its 
details  at  a  glance.  He  possesses  also  great  facility*  in 
handling  troops,  and  with  his  control  over  them,  and  his 
indomitable  energy,  can  accomplish  what  is  in  the  power 
of  man  to  perform.  Patient,  tireless,  and  undismayed 
by  sudden  adversity,  and  never  disheartened  by  unex- 
pected obstacles,  he  seems  to  be  one  of  the  few  men  born 
to  be  never  beaten. 

Oool  and  collected,  no  peril,  however  great,  for  a 
moment  discomposes  him,  and  in  every  emergency  he 
falls  back  on  himself  with  the  calm  confidence  of  power. 
His  plans  are  always  laid  with  mathematical  precision, 
and  carried  out  with  the  same  scientific  certainty.  He 
is  a  man  of  method  and  thought,  and  not  of  dash  and 
sudden  excitement,  and  hence  is  not  apt  to  perform  things 
in  that  striking,  unexpected  way  which  dazzles  the  public. 
In  short,  he  forgets  himself  in  the  work  before  him,  and 
consequently  never  does  anything  for  mere  effect.  He  is 
a  rare  man,  and  his  fame  rests  on  a  solid  foundation,  that 
time  will  increase  instead  of  diminish. 

He  now  commands  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi, 
with  headquarters  at  Yicksburg. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  S.  ROSECRANS. 

HIS  BIBTH  AND  PARENTAGE — KEEPS  A  STOKK — IS  SENT  TO  WEST  POINT-  -IS 
MADE  ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  IN  THE  ACADEMY — HIS  EARLY  AND  GREAT 
SERVICES  AS  ENGINEER — RESIGNS  ON  ACCOUNT  OF  ILL  HEALTH — OPENS 
AN  OFFICE  IN  CINCINNATI — IS  EMPLOYED  BY  A  COAL  COMPANY  IN  VIR- 
GINIA— SETS  UP  A  MANUFACTORY  OF  COAL  OIL — NEARLY  LOSES  HIS  LIFE — 
THE  FIRST  TO  MAKE  PURE  OIL — INVENTS  THE  CIRCULAR  WICK,  AND  MAKES 
IMPROVEMENTS  IN  LAMPS — BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE  WAR — HIS  FIRST  SER- 
VICES— MADE  BRIGADIER-GENERAL,  AND  ORDERED  TO  WESTERN  VIR- 
GINIA— RICH  MOUNTAIN — CARNIFEX  FERRY — DEFEATS  LEE — HIS  PLANS 
BROKEN  UP — FREMONT  PLACED  OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  DEPARTMENT — IS 
SENT  WEST — UNDER  HALLECK — UNDER  GRANT — BATTLE  OF  IUKA —  BAT- 
TLE OF  CORINTH — PLACED  OVER  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND — 
BATTLE  OF  MURFREESBORO' — CAPTURES  CHATTANOOGA — BATTLE  OP 
CHICKAMAUGA — IS  SUPERSEDED  BY  THOMAS — PLACED  OVER  THE  MIS- 
SOURI DEPARTMENT — HIS  CHARACTER. 

ROSECRANS  saw  so  little  service  under  General  Grant, 
that  a  sketch  of  him,  as  one  of  his  generals,  might  not 
be  indispensable,  in  completing  the  illustrious  group  of 
which  the  latter  is  the  central  figure.  Still,  during  the 
short  time  he  served  under  him,  he  won  two  battles  for 
him — the  last  of  which  had  an  important  bearing  on  his 
future  career. 

William  Stark  Rosecrans  was  born  in  Kingston, 
Delaware  county,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  September,  1819. 
His  ancestors  were  Dutch,  as  his  name  clearly  indicates, 
and  emigrated  to  New  York,  in  the  first  settlement  of 


PROFESSOR   AT   WEST    POINT.  399 

the  country,  from  Amsterdam.  In  the  war  of  1812,  his 
father  served  as  adjutant  to  a  light  horse  company,  under 
General  Harrison.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  and 
owned  considerable  property ;  yet  he  sent  his  son,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  at  that  time,  to  school  only  in  winter, 
keeping  him  home  to  work  on  the  farm  during  the  sum- 
mer months.  He  owned  a  store,  in  which  William  some- 
times acted  as  book-keeper,  and  who,  for  a  while,  in  1837, 
was  clerk  in  a  clothing  store.  While  here  the  latter  applied 
for  an  appointment  in  the  military  academy  at  West  Point, 
and  through  the  influence  of  Judge  Harper,  member  of 
Congress  from  the  district,  obtained  it.  He  graduated  in 
1842,  and  was  made  second  lieutenant  in  the  Engineer 
Corps,  and  ordered  to  Fortress  Monroe.  The  next  April, 
he  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant,  and  in  the  August 
following,  received  the  appointment  of  assistant  professor 
in  the  Engineering  Department  at  West  Point.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  however,  he  was  made  Assistant  Professor 
of  Philosophy ;  but  filled  the  position  only  one  year, 
when  he  was  appointed  First  Assistant  Professor  of  En- 
gineering, which  position  he  held  for  two  years — a  part  of 
the  time  acting  also  as  post  commissary  and  quarter- 
master. Thomas  was  a  cadet  at  the  same  time,  and  the 
young  men  often  talked  of  their  future  prospects  together, 
and  dreamed  of  military  distinction  in  the  years  to  come ; 
but  in  their  wildest  imaginings  never  conjured  up  such  a 
field  as  "Stone  Biver,"  or  " Chickamauga,"  where  they 
fought  side  by  side. 

In  August,  1847,  Rosecrans  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
fortifications  at  Newport,  Hhode  Island,  and  spent  five 
years  in  completing  its  batteries,  constructing  a  military 
wharf,  &c.  In  1852,  he  was  directed  to  survey  Taunton 
and  New  Bedford  harbors,  with  a  view  to  their  improve- 


400  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM  S.    ROSECRANS. 

ment,  and  in  three  weeks  made  30,000  soundings.  The 
next  spring,  being  ordered  to  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  he  was  detailed  as  constructing  engineer  at  the 
Washington  Navy  Yard,  and  during  the  year  performed 
an  immense  amount  of  work.  He  built  saw  mills,  a  ma- 
rine railway,  remodelled  the  ordnance  buildings,  and  sub- 
mitted plans  for  machine  shops,  and  manufactories  of 
various  kinds.  But  while  with  his  usual  energy  he  was 
pushing  on  the  various  improvements  with  which  his  in- 
ventive, restless  mind  teemed,  his  health  gave  out,  and 
his  physician  told  him  he  must  have  at  least  three  months 
rest.  He  accordingly  applied  for  leave  of  absence,  but 
the  engineer-in-chief  told  him  that  he  could  not  be  spared. 
He  then  sent  in  his  resignation  to  Jefferson  Davis,  who  at 
the  time  was  Secretary  of  War.  The  latter  remonstrated 
with  him,  and  finally  gave  him  the  required  leave  of 
absence,  telling  him  to  wait  till  the  end  of  that  time  be- 
fore pressing  his  resignation.  But  his  health  remaining 
feeble,  he  finally,  in  April,  1854,  resigned,  and  removed 
to  Cincinnati,  where  he  opened  an  office,  as  an  architect 
and  consulting  engineer. 

The  next  year,  however,  at  the  request  of  the  agent, 
he  took  charge  of  the  mining  interests  of  a  coal  company 
on  Coal  River,  in  Kanawha  county,  Virginia.  His  scien- 
tific explorations  developed  resources  hitherto  unknown, 
and  new  mines  were  discovered.  In  order  to  get  the  coal 
to  the  river,  he  proposed  the  plan  of  a  canal  which  was 
adopted — and  he  was  made  "President  of  the  Coal  River 
Slack  Water  Navigation  Company."  Soon  after,  the 
manufacture  of  coal  oil  attracted  public  attention,  and 
Rosecrans  believing  that  a  fortune  could  be  realized  from 
it,  went  into  the  business  in  Cincinnati.  With  two  other 
partners,  he  built  a  large  manufactory,  capable  of  turning 


A   MANUFACTURER   OF   OIL.  401 

out  five  hundred  gallons  a  day.  One  of  the  partners 
professed  to  be  skilled  in  the  manufacture  of  the  oil, 
but  failing  to  make  a  good  article,  Rosecrans  deter- 
mined to  take  hold  of  it  himself.  For  sixteen  days 
he  labored  assiduously  in  the  laboratory,  and  had 
about  succeeded  in  his  eiforts  to  produce  a  pure  odor- 
less oil,  when,  by  the  combustion  of  some  gas,  he  was 
terribly  burned.  He,  however,  extinguished  the  fire, 
and  then  walked  home  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  he  took 
to  his  bed  where  he  lay  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  a 
great  sufferer.  He  barely  survived  the  severe  shock  his 
system  received,  and  still  carries  the  scars  of  his  burns 
on  his  forehead.  On  his  recovery,  he  again  went  to 
work,  and  soon  produced  a  good  article  of  oil,  and  be- 
lieves he  was  the  first  to  obtain  it.  He  also  manufac- 
tured a  new  kind  of  soap,  and  inventea  the  lamp  with  a 
round  wick  for  burning  coal  oil,  and  also  the  one  with 
short  chimneys. 

He  was  still  engaged  in  this  business,  pushing  his  way 
steadily  on  to  fortune,  when  the  rebellion  broke  out.  His 
services  were  at  once  sought  in  drilling  the  Home  Guards 
of  the  city,  and  he  took  charge  of  those  of  the  Fourteenth 
Ward,  called  the  Marion  Rifles.  When  the  President's 
call  for  75,000  men  was  issued  he  offered  his  services  to 
Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio,  by  whom  he  was  requested 
to  lay  out  Camp  Dennison,  which  he  did.  Afterwards, 
he  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  see  about  getting  a  supply 
of  arms  for  the  Ohio  troops  ;  and  from  there  proceeded 
to  Washington  to  make  arrangements  for  their  clothing 
and  pay.  While  here  he  applied  for  the  appointment  of 
Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers.  Not  receiving  it,  he 
returned  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  was  offered  by  the 
Governor  the  position  of  Chief  Engineer  of  Ohio,  with 


402  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   S.    ROSECRANS. 

the  rank  of  Colonel,  to  serve  on  the  staff  of  McClellan, 
But  the  latter  being  appointed  Major-General  in  the  regu- 
lar army,  he  became  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-Third  Ohio 
regiment  and  proceeded  to  Columbus,  where  he  laid  out 
several  camps. 

In  the  meantime  the  appointment  of  Brigadier-General 
in  the  regular  army  reached  him,  with  instructions  to  re- 
port to  General  McClellan,  who  immediately  ordered  him 
to  Western  Virginia.  In  July  he  fought  and  won  the  battle 
of  Rich  Mountain,  with  a  force  of  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  men,  capturing  two  guns  and  several  pieces  of 
artillery.  The  same  night,  in  a  pouring  rain,  he  moved 
upon  the  enemy's  camp,  and  captured  it  with  over  two  hun- 
dred tents,  eighty  wagons  and  eleven  hundred  prisoners. 
McClellan  now  advanced  to  Cheat  Mountain,  when  he 
was  called  to  Washington  to  assume  the  duties  of  General- 
in-Chief. 

The  command  in  Western  Virginia  now  devolved  on 
Kosecrans.  His  three  months1  men  soon  after  left  him, 
and  with  his  diminished  force,  he  was  compelled  to  act 
solely  on  the  defensive,  and  hold  the  strong  positions 
he  had  seized.  But  as  soon  as  the  new  troops  arrived, 
though  raw  and  undisciplined,  he  moved  forward,  to  at- 
tack Floyd,  who  he  heard  was  advancing  against  General 
Cox  at  Gauley.  Pressing  forward  over  terrible  roads,  in 
drenching  storms,  he  at  length  arrived  within  seventeen 
miles  of  Carnifex  Ferry,  where  he  heard  that  Floyd  was 
strongly  entrenched.  He  immediately  ordered  an  ad- 
vance, and  reached  the  rebel  position  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  boldly  attacked  it.  The  conflict  raged 
fiercely  .till  darkness  put  an  end  to  it,  when  the  army  lay 
down  to  wait  for  the  morning  light  to  renew  the  assault. 
Tltat  night,  however,  Floyd  evacuated  the  position,  and 


DEFEATS   LEE.  403 

crossing  the  river,  destroyed  the  ferry-boat,  thus  cutting 
off  all  pursuit. 

Rosecrans  now  fell  back  twenty-three  miles,  in  order  to 
be  near  his  base  of  supplies.  He  had  marched  his  men 
through  storm  and  mud,  over  mountains  and  streams,  half 
fed,  and  half  clothed,  with  an  energy  and  rapidity  which  at 
that  time  were  considered  marvellous;  and  he  was  looked 
upon  as  one  of  our  most  promising  generals. 

Lee  now  took  command  of  the  rebel  forces  in  Western 
Virginia,  and  formed  a  plan  with  Floyd  to  crush  Rose- 
crans  between  them.  But  the  latter's  geological  surveys 
in  this  country  now  stood  him  in  good  stead,  and  he  suc- 
cessfully foiled  their  plans,  and  driving  Floyd  in  confusion 
before  him,  brought  to  an  inglorious  termination  Lee's 
first  campaign  in  the  service  of  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy. 

Winter  now  coming  on,  active  service  in  the  field  was 
impossible,  still  Rosecrans  kept  detachments  constantly  at 
work  hunting  down  guerillas.  Repairing  to  Washington 
to  lay  before  McClelian  a  plan  for  future  operations,  he 
found  that  all  his  troops,  with  the  exception  of  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  men,  were  to  be  sent  to  General 
Lander,  who  was  ordered  to  protect  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad.  Notwithstanding  he  was  thus  stripped 
of  his  troops,  he  formed  a 'plan  for  a  spring  campaign, 
when  he  found  that  politicians  in  Washington  had  caused 
the  Mountain  Department  to  be  formed  for  Fremont. 
Though  displeased  at  this,  and  justly  so,  he  continued 
to  labor  assiduously  to  carry  out  the  great  plan  that  had 
been  adopted  at  Washington  for  crushing  Ewell  and 
Jackson  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  But  this  falling 
through,  he,  on  the  9th  of  May,  reported  in  person  to 
General  Fremont,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  Washington, 

26 


404  MAJOR-GENERAL    WILLIAM   S.    ROSECRANS. 

where  he  arrived  on  the  15th,  having  had  quite  enough 
of  the  Mountain  Department.  He  was  immediately 
ordered  to  report  to  General  Halleck  at  Corinth,  Missis- 
sippi, and  leaving  his  staff,  horses,  etc.,  behind,  hurried 
forward,  reaching  it  in  eight  days.  Halleck,  in  turn, 
ordered  him  to  report  to  Pope,  by  whom  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  Jefferson  C.  Davis1  division,  just 
in  from  Pea  Ridge.  He  held  this  position  just  four  days, 
when  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  then  closing  in  on 
Corinth.  On  the  evacuation  of  this  place,  he  was  ordered 
to  pursue  the  enemy,  and  pushed  on  to  Booneville.  The 
pursuit  being  abandoned,  he  returned  to  Camp  Clear 
Creek,  seven  miles  from  Corinth. 

Pope  now  being  called  to  take  command  of  the*  forces 
in  front  of  Washington,  Rosecrans  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  under  Grant. 
Bragg,  having  gone  to  Chattanooga,  whither  Buell  was 
moving  his  columns,  Price  and  Van  Dorn  were  left  to 
take  care  of  Grant,  and  soon  after  advanced  and  took 
possession  of  luka.  Rosecrans  at  once  proposed  a  plan 
to  Grant  for  recapturing  it,  by  which  the  former  was  to 
move  directly  on  the  place  while  the  latter  marched  to  the 
rear  and  cut  off  the  rebel  retreat.  Grant  accepted  it,  and 
Rosecrans  concentrated  at  Jacinto  two  divisions  of  in- 
fantry and  artillery,  and  two  regiments  of  cavalry,  with 
which  he  started  on  the  afternoon  of  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber, and,  marching  about  nineteen  miles,  arrived  within 
less  than  two  miles  of  luka.  Price  immediately 
pushed  out  a  heavy  force  against  him,  and  a  fierce  and 
sanguinary  battle  followed.  Night  at  length  closed  the 
contest,  and  Rosecrans,  who  all  the  afternoon  had  been 
anxiouslv  listening  to  hear  the  sound  of  Grants  guns,  felt 

t>  «"">  O  I 


BATTLE    OF   CORINTH.  405 

doubtful  as  to  the  proper  course  to  pursue.  He  deter- 
mined, hoAvever,  weak  as  he  was,  to  attack  the  enemy  in 
the  morning — but  at  midnight,  word  was  brought  him  that 
the  rebels  were  in  full  retreat.  He  immediately  started 
in  pursuit,  but  failed  to  overtake  the  enemy,  though  he 
pressed  him  hotly  for  twenty-five  miles. 

Referring  to  the  lack  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
Grant,  by  which  Price  was  enabled  to  get  off,  Rose- 
crans  said,  "  The  unexpected  accident  which  alone  pre- 
vented us  from  cutting  off  the  retreat,  and  capturing  Price 
and  his  army,  only  shows  how  much  success  depends 
on  him  in  whose  hands  are  the  accidents  as  well  as  the 
laws  of  life." 

He  now  fell  back  on  Corinth,  and  Price,  Van  Dorn, 
and  Lovell  immediately  concentrated  their  armies  against 
it  before  the  place  could  be  reinforced  by  Grant.  He 
watched  the  coming  storm  with  a  good  deal  of  solicitude, 
for  the  forces  gathering  against  him  outnumbered  his  own 
two  to  one — but  he  called  in  all  his  detachments,  and 
began  to  strengthen  his  position.  The  old  fortifications 
thrown  up  by  Beauregard  were  too  extensive  for  his  little 
army,  and  he  erected  works  within  them. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  the  enemy  approached  the 
place,  and  the  next  morning,  at  dawn,  Rosecrans,  as  he 
looked  over  the  ramparts  of  his  works,  heard  the  roll  of 
the  drum  and  the  pealing  bugle  in  the  dark  forests  be- 
yond. Skirmishing  soon  commenced,  and  occasionally 
a  cannon-shot  awoke  the  morning  echoes,  but  still  there 
was  no  sign  of  the  enemy,  for  the  dense  forest  shut  them  in. 
The  assaulting  columns  were  forming  on  the  roads  that 
ran  through  the  woods,  not  more  than  half  a  mile 
away,  and  Rosecrans  waited  with  intense  interest  to  see 
them  emerge  from  the  foliage. 


406  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   S.    EOSECRANS. 

A  little  after  nine  o'clock,  the  suspense  was  ended,  for 
those  columns  suddenly  burst  from  the  forest,  and  in 
splendid  order  and  proud  array,  moved  up  the  Bolivar 
road  straight  on  the  batteries.  As  the  deep  formations, 
fringed  with  glittering  steel,  reached  the  open  ground, 
they  slowly  unfolded,  like  two  expanding  wings,  and 
swooped  down  on  Corinth.  Price  was  on  the  left,  and 
Van  Dorn  on  the  right,  designing  to  attack  simulta- 
neously— but  the  latter,  meeting  with  obstructions,  was 
delayed,  so  that  the  former  first  caught  the  fury  of  the 
storm.  Moving  up  a  turfy  slope,  the  whole  line  was 
swept  by  our  batteries,  cutting  terrible  gaps  through  it 
— but  it  kept  on  unshaken  till  it  came  within  range  of 
the  musketry,  when  the  destruction  became  awful.  Still, 
the  unfaltering  ranks  pressed  forward,  and  reached  the 
crest  of  the  hill,  and  drove  the  division  of  Davis  back  in 
confusion.  Rosecrans,  seeing  the  imminent  danger,  gal- 
loped amid  the  broken  ranks,  and  rallied  them  in  person. 
But  the  shouting,  victorious  rebels,  now  confident  of 
victory,  sprung  eagerly  forward,  and  swept  headquarters 
like  a  storm,  and  soon  began  to  send  their  shot  into  the 
square  of  the  place.  Fort  Richardson,  the  key  of  the  posi- 
tion, was  reached,  and  all  seemed  lost,  when  a  sudden  sheet 
of  flame  burst  from  its  sides.  As  the  smoke  lifted,  only  the 
dead  and  dying  were  where  the  charging  column  had  pressed. 
But  those  behind  rushed  in  to  fill  their  places,  and  leaped 
over  the  works  with  a  demoniacal  yell.  At  that  critical 
moment,  the"  Fifty-sixth  Illinois,  which  had  lain  concealed 
in  a  ravine  near  by,  suddenly  rose,  and  pouring  in  one 
desolating  volley,  sprang  forward,  and  cleared  the  fort  of 
the  rebels  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Hamilton,  the 
hero  of  luka,  seeing  the  charge,  cried  "  forward ! "  The 
rebels  had  made  their  greatest  effort,  and  yielding  to  this 


A   BRAVE    TEXAN.  407 

last  charge,  threw  away  their  arms  in  despair,  and  broke 
for  the  woods. 

Van  Dorn,  on  the  left,  now  came  up.  A  few  minutes 
sooner,  and  his  arrival  might  have  turned  the  day  against 
Rosecrans.  But  now  the  prospect  looked  gloomy  enough 
— still  he  came  boldly  on,  breasting  the  storm  that  smote 
him  as  bravely  as  Price  had  done  before,  and  a  close  and 
fearful  conflict  followed.  With  the  bayonet,  clubbed 
muskets,  and  where  those  failed,  with  clenched  fists,  the 
maddened  troops  struggled  and  fell,  while  shouts,  and 
yells,  and  curses  rose  in  a  deafening  clamor  from  out  the 
tossing,  reeling  mass.  But  though  the  rebels  fought  as 
they  had  not  fought  before,  it  was  all  in  vain,  and  the 
whole  army  at  last  turned  and  fled. 

The  battle  lasted  scarcely  more  than  an  hour  and  a 
half,  and  yet,  in  that  brief  space,  two  thousand  of  Rose- 
crans' army  of  twenty  thousand,  had  fallen,  while  nearly 
six  thousand  of  the  enemy  lay  strewn  and  piled  over  the 
field  and  around  the  forts.  The  shout  that  rolled  down  our 
lines  at  the  victory  shook  the  field,  and  was  repeated  again 
and  again,  till  the  air  of  that  autumn  morning  seemed  an 
element  of  joy.  In  the  last  charge,  Rogers,  commanding 
a  Texas  regiment,  strode  at  its  head,  shouting,  amid  the 
bursting  shells,  "  forward !  forward ! "  and  seemed  to  bear 

o  / 

a  charmed  life  ;  for,  while  men  fell  rapidly  around  him,  he 
still  stood  up  unhurt.  He  at  length  reached  the  ditch, 
a  revolver  in  one  hand,  and  a  flag  in  the  other.  Stand- 
ing erect  a  moment,  he  again  shouted  "  forward,"  and 
with  one  bound  cleared  it,  and  gallantly  ascending  the 
slope  of  the  works,  planted  his  standard  on  the  ramparts. 
The  next  instant  he  fell,  banner  in  hand,  into  the  ditch,  a 
corpse. 

After  the  battle  was  over,  our  brave  soldiers  singled 


408  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   S.    ROSECRANS. 

out  his  body  and  gave  it  a  grave  by  itself,  smoothing  it 
over  tenderly,  and  marking  its  last  resting  place  with  a 
board.  It  was  a  touching  testimonial  of  the  brave  to  the 
brave. 

Rosecrans  now  rode  along  the  lines,  greeted  with  loud 
cheers.  He  told  his  troops,  that  although  they  had  been 
marching  for  two  days,  passed  two  sleepless  nights,  and 
fought  for  two  days  more,  he  wanted  them  to  fill  their 
cartridge-boxes,  haversacks  and  stomachs,  and  take  an 
early  sleep,  and  then  press  on  after  the  enemy.  Just 
then  McPherson  arrived  with  a  fresh  brigade,  sent  by 
Grant  to  his  aid,  and  was  immediately  started  in  pur- 
suit. 

Rosecrans  now  pressed  the  enemy  day  after  day,  in- 
flicting heavy  loss  on  him,  but  could  not  force  him  into  a 
decisive  battle.  The  latter,  however,  was  completely 
demoralized,  and  Rosecrans  determined  to  follow  him  up 
until  he  was  wholly  destroyed,  and  fully  believed  that  if 
Grant  had  not  recalled  him  from  the  pursuit,  he  could 
have  pushed  on  and  taken  Vicksburg,  which  afterwards 
cost  us  so  much  labor  and  so  many  lives. 

This  was  an  important  victory  to  Grant ;  for  if  Corinth 
had  fallen,  his  communications  North  would  have  been 
severed,  and  the  very  existence  of  his  army  threatened 
On  no  one  battle  fought  by  any  of  his  generals  acting 
independently,  did  more  important  ^issues  rest  than  on 
this. 

The  victory  lifted  Rosecrans  still  higher  in  public 
estimation,  and  he  was  called  the  u  favored  child  of 
victory." 

In  October  he  was  placed  over  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  in  the  place  of  Buell,  and  repaired  to  Louis- 
ville. He  afterwards  made  his  headquarters  at  Nash- 


BATTLE    OF   MURFREESBORO.  409 

• 

ville,  and  prepared  for  a  decisive  campaign  against  Bragg, 
who  had  taken  position  at  Murfreesboro. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  in  a  pouring  rain-storm, 
the  army  broke  up  its  encampment  and  moved  forward, 
and  came  at  length  upon  the  rebel  army  lying  along  the 
north  bank  of  Stone  river,  its  right  resting  on  it  where  it 
took  a  short  bend  north — or  perhaps  the  real  right  might 
be  said  to  be   across   it,  on  an  eminence  where  Breck- 
enridge's    division    was    posted.      Hosecrans1    plan    of 
battle  was  a  very  simple  one.     With  his  army  drawn  up 
in  front  of  that  of  Bragg,  he  designed  suddenly  to  swing 
his  left  over  the  river,  and  by  an  overwhelming  assault, 
carry  the  heights   on  which  Breckenridge  was   posted. 
This  once  accomplished,  his  batteries  planted  there  would 
enfilade  the  whole  rebel  line  of  battle,  and  take  the  bat- 
teries in  reverse.     Hetreat  then  would  be  unavoidable,  and 
away  from  Murfreesboro  and  the  railroad  running  south. 
This  would  enable  B-osecrans  to  follow  Bragg  up  with 
a  -fair  prospect   of  capturing  or   dispersing   the   whole 
army.     But  the  latter  had  planned  a  similar  movement 
on  him.     Kosecrans1  right  was  out,  so  to  speak,  in  the 
air,  and  he  resolved  to  crush  this  with  one  tremendous 
blow,  and  following  up  the  victory,  roll  up  our  whole  line 
of  battle,'  and  force  the  army  into  the  Stone  river.     Car- 
rying out  this  plan,  he  suddenly  fell  on  our  extreme  right,  ' 
while  the  assaulting  columns  of  Rosecrans  were  on  their 
way  to  the  rebel  right.     Bragg  struck  first,  and  our  right, 
taken  by  surprise,  was  borne  away  as  by  a  whirlwind. 
Rosecrans  was  standing  near  his  tent,  waiting  to  hear  his 
guns  open  on  the  rebel  flank,  when  far  away  to  his  right, 
there  came  a  sound  like  the  crackling  of  brush  in  the  flames, 
and  then  the  deep  roar  of  cannon.     Still,  he  was  not  anx- 
ious, it  was  doubtless  McCook,  he  thought,  diverting  the 


410  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   S.    ROSECRANS. 

enemy's  attention  in  order  to  give  greater  success  to  the 
movement  on  the  left.  But  the  din  grew  louder,  and 
the  incessant,  ever-increasing  crash  of  artillery  at  length 
sent  a  pang  of  anxious  fear  to  his  heart.  Soon  tidings 
came  that  the  right  wing  of  the  army  was  broken  to  frag- 
ments. He  did  not  believe  it,  when  suddenly  a  crowd 
of  fugitives  burst  through  the  neighboring  thickets,  while 
a  staff  officer  dashed  up,  saying,  that  the  right  wing  was 
broken,  gone !  "To  horse ! "  shouted  Hosecrans,  and 
away  he  dashed  into  the  vortex  of  battle.  Horse  and 
horseman  fell  beside  him,  but  on  through  the  deadly  storm, 
leaping  every  obstacle  that  crossed  his  path,  he  at  once 
pressed,  determined  to  throw  his  life  into  the  scale  of 
battle.  Ordering  over  a  portion  of  his  left  wing  on  the 
double  quick,  massing  batteries  here,  and  rallying  a  broken 
line  there,  he  moved  like  a  fabled  god  over  that  wild, 
tumultuous  field.  His  usually  ruddy  face  was  now  pale 
as  ashes,  his  lips  were  set  firmly  together,  and  his  blue 
eye  blazed  with  a  dangerous  fire.  He  had  been  out- 
manoeuvred, and  half  his  army  was  in  confused  retreat 
before  he  knew  the  battle  had  begun,  and  now  nothing 
but  superhuman  efforts  could  save  him.  He  saw  it  all 
at  a  glance,  but  instead  of  being  overwhelmed  by  the 
sudden  disaster  that  had  overtaken  him,  rose  to  the  full 
requirements  of  his  condition. 

Sheridan's"  gallant  resistance  gave  him  breathing  time, 
and  though  the  battle  raged  hour  after  hour  with  unpar- 
alleled fury,  and  his  whole  army  was  forced  back  before 
the  terrific  onsets  of  the  rebel  columns,  till  it  stood  at 
right  angles  to  its  position  in  the  morning,  and  though  a 
quarter  of  his  artillery  was  gone,  and  nearly  a  third  of 
his  army  with  it,  yet  at  night  his  line  of  battle  was  firm 
and  the  enemy  repulsed. 


CHATTA.NOOGA.  411 

It  had  been  a  fearful  day — a  terrible  defeat ;  and  but 
for  Rosecrans'  personal  courage,  almost  superhuman  ef- 
forts, and  rapid  handling  of  his  troops  and  skilfiil  mass- 
ing of  his  artillery,  would  have  been  a  complete  over- 
throw. 

That  night  he  took  a  survey  of  his  position,  consulted 
with  his  officers,  and  then  resolved  to  fight  it  out  right 
there.  He  found,'  he  said,  that  "he  had  ammunition 
enough  for  another  battle,"  and  though  his  losses  in  guns 
and  men  had  been  so  heavy,  he  would  try  the  issue  with 
Bragg  once  more  before  he  retreated.  He,  therefore, 
took  up  a  new  position  during  the  night,  which  the 
enemy  next  day  dared  not  assail. 

On  the  2d  of  January  the  fight  was  renewed,  and 
Rosecrans  having  at  last  got  his  left  over  the  river,  Bragg 
evacuated  Murfreesboro. 

Victory  at  length  was  ours,  though  at  a  heavy  sacri- 
fice; for  out  of  43,000  men  with  which  he  went  into 
battle,  10,000,  at  least,  had  disappeared  from  the  ranks. 

Rosecrans  lay  here  till  suihmer,  and  then  advanced  on 
Chattanooga.  On  arriving  before  the  place,  he  found  it 
too  strong  to  be  carried  by  direct  assault,  so  he  executed 
a  skilful  flank  movement  by  crossing  the  Tennessee,  below 
Lookout  Mountain,  and  pushing  his  columns  up  the 
Lookout  Valley.  Bragg,  finding  himself  completely  out- 
manoeuvred, evacuated  the  place;  Rosecrans,  however, 
was  not  content  with  its  capture,  he  wanted  Bragg's  army, 
and  so  pushed  on  his  divisions  to  cut  off  his  line  of  retreat, 
until  at  length  McCook,  in  advance,  was  some  thirty  or 
forty  miles  from  the  Tennessee  River.  But  Bragg,  who 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  this  time  outwit- 
ted his  antagonist,  for  instead  of  retreating,  he  only  fell 
back  a  little  distance,  and  then  wheeling  about,  marched 


412  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM    S.    ROSECRANS. 

back  on  Chattanooga.  Crittenden,  alone,  was  opposed  to 
him;  the  other  divisions  being  over  the  mountains,  scattered 
far  apart,  thinking  only  of  intercepting  his  flight.  As 
soon  as  Rosecrans  was  informed  of  this,  he  saw  at  once 
his  danger,  and  strained  every  nerve  to  concentrate  his 
divided  forces,  and  get  them  over  into  the  Chattanooga 
Valley,  to  join  Crittenden.  He  succeeded ;  but  before 
his  line  of  battle  was  completed,  in  fact,  while  inarch- 
ing by  the  flank  to  head  off  Bragg,  the  latter  fell  on  him 
with  a  succession  of  terrible  assaults.  Night  closed  the 
contest ;  when  Rosecrans  withdrew  his  right  wing,  resting 
it  on  Missionary  Ridge,  thus  shortening  his  line  of  battle. 
Bragg,  having  been  heavily  reinforced  in  the  meantime, 
in  the  morning  renewed  the  conflict,  striking,  as  before, 
the  indomitable  Thomas  on  our  left.  The  latter,  not  con- 
tent with  repelling  the  assault,  attacked  in  turn,  and  drove 
the  rebel  line  before  him  for  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  he 
was  called  back  to  help  the  hard-pressed  centre. 

"While  matters  were  in  this  position,  Wood,  in  the 
centre,  received  that  fatal  order — to  close  well  upon  Rey- 
nolds and  support  him.  But  Brannan's  division  lay  be- 
tween him  and  Reynolds,  and  to  obey  this  order  he  had 
to  fall  back  behind  the  latter,  and  pass  beyond  him.  This 
left  a  fearful  gap  in  our  lines,  which  the  enemy  no  sooner 
saw  than  he  poured  like  a  torrent  into  it,  and  striking 
right  and  left,  swung  back  the  two  extremities  like  two 
doors  on  their  hinges,  and  with  such  fury  as  to  shatter 
them  into  fragments.  It  was  a  sudden  whirlwind,  a  hur- 
ricane, carrying  away  with  resistless  fury  the  centre  and 
right  of  the  army,  and  causing  a  scene  of  terror  and  con- 
fusion indescribable.  A  struggling  multitude  of  men 
and  horses,  and  teams  ;  a  cursing,  shouting  crowd,  block- 
ing up  the  roads ;  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  yells  of  the 


CHICKAMAUGA.  413 

victorious  enemy,  made  up  one  of  the  most  terrific  spec- 
tacles of  war.  Rosecrans1  headquarters  and  himself  were 
borne  away  in  the  flood,  and  he  did  not  halt  till  he  reach- 
ed Chattanooga.  Thomas,  left  alone,  saved  the  army, 
and  by  his  splendid  courage  and  unparalleled  fighting, 
earned  the  well: deserved  title  of  the  "Rock  of  Chicka- 


mauga." 


There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  about  the  order 
to  Wood,  and  perhaps  always  will  be.  Whether  Rose- 
crans  meant  to  give  it  as  he  did,  or  unconsciously  substi- 
tuted Reynolds'  name  for  some  other  officer,  or,  in  the 
excitement  of  the  moment,  put  it  in  a  form  different  from 
what  he  intended,  or  misconceived  for  an  instant  the 
true  position  of  things,  we  cannot  say.  It  seems  very  im- 
probable, however,  that  Wood  would  have  made  the  ex- 
traordinary movement  he  did,  without  being  unmis- 
takably certain  respecting  the  order.  Altogether,  it 
is  unexplainable,  for  it  is  equally  improbable  that  Rose- 
crans,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  state  of  things, 
would  have  given  such  an  order  until  Wood's  place 
was  filled  by  another  division.  At  all  events,  the  re- 
sults were  disastrous :  and  but  for  Thomas,  would  have 
been  overwhelmingly  so.  ^ 

Rosecrans  had  now  to  fall  back  to  Chattanooga, 
whither  Bragg  followed  him,  enclosing  him  from  the 
river  above,  to  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  river  below, 
intercepting  his  communications,  and  well  nigh  starv- 
ing his  army.  The  Department  at  length  relieved  him 
from  command,  and  put  Thomas  in  his  place,  who,  in 
turn,  gave  way  to  Grant. 

This  ended  Rosecrans1  military  services  in  the  field, 
though  after  a  while  he  was  put  overthe  Department  of 
Missouri.  Great  dissatisfaction  arising  from  some  sources 


414  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   S.    ROSECRANS. 

with  his  conduct  here,  he  was,  before  the  war  closed,  re- 
lieved from  this  command  also. 

He  has  been  accused  of  all  sorts  of  bad  habits,  among 
others,  of  eating  opium,  which  he  indignantly  denied 
He  felt,  and  we  presume  does  still,  that  there  was  a  de- 
termination on  the  part  of  a  few  to  crush  him,  and 
reckoned  Halleck  as  not  among  the  least  of  his  enemies. 
He  was  too  honest,  straightforward,  and  outspoken  for 
Halleck,  and  too  elevated  in  tone  and  purpose  to  suit  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

HIS  CHARACTER. 

Rosecrans,  as  a  military  leader,  possessed  high  quali- 
ties, but  they  were  counterbalanced  by  several  defects. 
A  man  of  quick  and  intense  feelings,  he  lacked  breadth 
of  thought.  Engrossed  with  his  own  plans,  he  seemed 
unable  to  conceive  the  probable  moves  of  his  adversary. 
Again,  he  seemed  to  be  wanting  in  a  proper  appreciation 
of  character  in  others — that  sagacity  which  almost,  by 
\intuition,  discerns  the  proper  instruments  for  the  work  to 
be  done.  After  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  there  was  an 
attempt  to  impugn  his  courage,  many  asserting  that  his 
panic  was  equal  to  that  of  the  rank  and  file,  and  that  he 
fled  in  consternation  to  Chattanooga.  This  is  absurd 
He  could  no  more  stem  the  torrent  that  struck  him  than 
one  could  stop  a  bursting  billow  with  a  feather.  His 
courage  is  indisputable.  His  fault,  if  any,  is,  that  he 
exposes  his  person  too  recklessly  in  battle.  No  man  who 
saw  him  ride  through  the  rain  of  death  at  Murfreesboro 
— steady  while  all  was  tumult  around  him,  would  ever 
accuse  him  of  lack  of  coolness  or  courage.  He  is  a  strong 
man  amid  the  surging  tide  of  battle,  and  riding  along  its 


HIS   CHARACTER.  415 

fiery  edge,  is  the  very  impersonation  of  a  hero.  He  is  a 
pure  and  upright  man,  scorning  meanness  and  trickery, 
and  too  outspoken  in  his  feelings  for  his  own  advantage. 
A  true  patriot,  a  strong  man  on  the  battle-field,  he  has 
won  an  enduring  fame,  and  "  deserves  well  of  his  country.'1 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGEWICK. 

HIS  BIRTH  AND  NATIVITY — A  FARMER'S  BOY — ENTERS  WEST  POINT — SENT  TO 
FLORIDA — STATIONED  AT  BUFFALO — AT  NEW  YORK — HIS  GALLANTRY  AND 
PROMOTION  IN  THE  MEXICAN  WAR — MADE  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  OF  VOL- 
UNTEERS— SUPERSEDES  STONE — HEROIC  ACTION  AT  FAIR  OAKS — HIS  SER- 
VICES ON  THE  PENINSULA — IS  WOUNDED  AT  ANTIETAM — CAPTURES  THE 
HEIGHTS  OF  FREDERICKSBURG — MARCH  OF  HIS  CORPS  TO  GETTYSBURG — 
COMMANDS  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC — LETTER  TO  GENERAL  FRENCH — 
COMMANDS  THE  RIGHT  WING  OF  GRANT'S  ARMY — BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDEB- 
NESS— KILLED  AT  SPOTTSYLVANIA— HIS  CHARACTER. 

LIKE  Thomas  and  McPherson,  General  Sedgewick 
seemed  to  have  no  enemies,  and  his  elevation  to  rank  and 
position  created  apparently  no  feelings  of  rivalry  and 
jealousy.  Such  characters  are  rare  in  the  world,  and  it 
is  hard  to  write  about  them  without  incurring  the  charge 
of  indiscriminate  eulogy. 

John  Sedgewick  was  born  in  Cornwall,  Conn.,  on  the 
13th  of  September,  1813,  and  hence  saw  the  light  when 
the  country  was  resounding  with  arms.  He  was  the  son 
of  Benjamin  Sedgewick,  and  grandson  of  General  John 
Sedgewick,  a  major  in  the  revolutionary  army.  He  had 
one  brother  and  three  sisters,  of  whom  the  brother  and 
one  sister  survive  him,  and  still  live  in  Cornwall.  En- 
joying the  advantages  of  a  good  common  education,  he 
grew  up  like  any  farmer  lad,  working  on  the  old  home- 


HIS    BOYHOOD.  417 

stead,  which  had  been  in  the  family  for  generations.  One 
of  his  ancestors  was  a  general  under  Cromwell,  so  that 
he  came  honestly  by  his  military  tendencies.  The 
family  traditions  evidently  made  an  early  impression  on 
his  mind,  for  even  when  a  little  boy,  he  would  invariably 
reply,  on  being  asked  his  name,  "General  John  Sedge- 
wick."  This  taste  for  the  military  profession  never  for- 
sook him  during  the  years  he  toiled  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  he  was  often  more  busy  with  dreams  of  military 
glory  when  following  the  plow,  or  driving  the  team,  than 
with  the  work  before  him.  Yielding  to  the  military  bent 
of  his  mind,  his  friends  obtained  the  appointment  of  ca- 
det at  West  Point  for  him,  and  he  entered  that  school  at 
eighteen  years  of  age.  As  a  boy,  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  influence  over  the  minds  of  others ;  so  that  when  he 
proposed  to  have  anything  done,  no  one  seemed  to  doubt 
its  propriety,  or  the  certainty  of  its  being  accomplished. 
He  carried  this  peculiarity  with  him  to  West  Point,  and 
had  the  unbounded  confidence  and  respect  of  his  class. 
He  graduated  in  1837,  and  was  appointed  second  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Second  Artillery,  and  sent  to  Florida, 
where  he  remained  two  years.  Promoted  to  first  lieu- 
tenant, he  afterwards  was  stationed  at  Buffalo,  and  re- 
mained there  during  the  excitement  produced  by  the 
seizure  of  -the  steamer  Caroline  by  the  Canadian  govern- 
ment. Subsequently  he  was  removed  to  Fort  Hamilton, 
and  Governor's  Island,  New  York. 

His  regiment  formed  a  part  of  General  Scott's  army 
in  the  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  for  his  bravery  at  Contre- 
ras  and  Churubusco,  he  was  brevetted  captain.  At  Mo- 
lino  del  Rey  and  Chapultepec,  and  in  the  attack  on  the 
San  Cosmo  gate  of  the  city,  he  led  his  company  with  a 
daring  and  skill  that  won  for  him  the  highest  praise. 


418  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGEWICK. 

His  conduct  at  Chapultepec  was  brought  especially  to  the 
notice  of  the  Government,  and  he  was  brevetted  major. 
In  1849,  he  received  his  commission  as  captain,  and  in 
1855,  that  of  major  in  the  First  Cavalry. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
he  was  made  colonel  of  the  Fourth  Cavalry,  and  in  Au- 
gust, after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  When  Stone 
was  arrested  after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  he 
was  appointed  in  his  place. 

In  the  advance  from  Yorktown,  Sedgewick's  division 
accompanied  Franklin  to  West  Point,  and  was  the  first 
to  land  and  engage  the  enemy  there.  During  the  Chick- 
ahominy  campaign,  he  commanded  a  division  in  Stun- 
ner's corps  (the  Second).  When  the  enemy,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  sudden  flood  in  the  river,  which  divided 
our  forces,  came  down  on  Casey's  division  and  crushed 
it,  thus  opening  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  McClellan  sent 
an  urgent  despatch  to  Sumner  to  cross  over  his  corps  to 
the  rescue.  Sedgewick,  the  "  always  ready,"  as  General 
Scott  termed  him,  was  at  once  ordered  forward  with  his 
division.  But,  as  he  approached  the  bridge  by  which  he 
was  to  cross,  an  appalling  sight  met  his  gaze — a  broad 
stream,  or  sea,  swept  fiercely  down,  with  no  sign  of  a 
bridge,  save  a  narrow  strip  of  timber,  that,  on  a  level  with 
the  water,  lay  midway  in  the  flood,  as  though  each  end  was 
anchored  there ;  leaving  the  structure  to  float  on  the  tide. 
That  single  dark  line  showed  where  the  main  channel  was, 
though  an  even  surface  of  water  spread  between  the  firm 
land  and  the  end  nearest  him,  while  from  the  farthest  end 
the  level  water  stretched  inland  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 
Sedgewick  looked  at  the  roaring  flood  in  his  calm, 
thoughtful  way,  and  comprehended  in  that  glance  the 


CROSSING  THE   CHICKAHOMINY.  419 

full  danger  of  attempting  to  get  his  columns  and  artillery 
over.  The  angry  river  swept  by  with  a  deep,  rushing 
sound,  and  the  frail  structure  far  out  in  the  centre  sway- 
ed and  swung  to  the  mighty  current ;  toward  which  he 
must  feel  his  way  beneath  the  water,  and  then  take  his 
chances  of  having  it  give  way  under  the  weight  of  his 
columns,  and  precipitate  all  into  the  torrent  below.  But 
beyond,  the  rapid,  heavy  explosions  of  artillery,  and  the 
clouds  of  smoke,  steadily  advancing  toward  the  river, 
told  him  that  help  must  reach  our  forces  struggling  there 
against  overwhelming  odds,  at  all  hazards,  and  "For- 
ward" broke  from  his  lips.  The  head  of  the  column 
plunged  boldly  into  the  water,  and  with  its  eye  fixed 
steadily  on  the  distant  bridge,  pressed  swiftly  forward. 
The  artillery  carriages  submerged  nearly  to  the  guns, 
floundered  on  in  advance,  and  at  last  succeeded  in 
reaching  it.  Almost  lifted  from  its  anchorage  by 
the  swollen  stream,  it  rocked  and  trembled  under  the 
weight,  but  still  retained  its  place.  The  infantry  waded 
after,  and  the  close-packed  line  of  steel  moved  gleaming 
and  swift  above  the  gleaming  water. 

Reaching  the  farther  end,  they  again  entered  the  water 
and  feeling  their  course  along  the  submerged  log- way  be- 
neath, pushed  for  the  distant  land.  In  the  meantime 
Sedgewick  and  his  staff  dashed  through  to  the  front,. 
But  when  the  land  was  reached,  it  was  found  to  be  a 
quagmire,  into  which  the  artillery  carriages  sank  up  to 
their  axles,  and  refused  to  go  forward.  Unhitching  the 
teams  from  some  of  the  guns  and  doubling  them  on 
others,  the  drivers  lashed  their  horses  to  their  utmost 
strength,  yet  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  a  single 
battery  could  be  got  to  the  front. 

Sedgewick  had  hardly  formed  his  line  of  battle,  when. 

27 


420  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   SEDGEWICK. 

the  enemy  came  down  on  him  in  a  desperate  charge. 
Hurled  back,  he  again  and  again  advanced,  but  each 
time  was  repulsed,  as  McClellan  said,  "With  great  loss 
by  the  steady  fire  of  the  infantry  and  the  splendid  prac- 
tice of  the  battery." 

The  rest  of  Simmer's  corps  having,  in  the  meantime, 
come  up,  the  rebels  were  checked  at  all  points,  but  the 
dead  lay  thickest  in  front  of  Sedgewick' s  division. 

Night  now  came  on,  and  the  battle  for  the  day  was 
over.  It  had  been  a  frightful  Sabbath,  and  the  miry, 
trampled  earth  was  covered  with  the  wreck  of  the  fight — 
dead  horses  and  disabled  cannon  and  long  lines  of  the 
dead  lay  everywhere,  presenting  a  ghastly  spectacle. 

The  next  morning  at  day-dawn,  Sedgewick  was  in  the 
saddle,  and  quickly  forming  his  line  of  battle,  side  by 
side  with  Richardson,  closed  fiercely  on  the  foe,  and 
pressed  him  back  step  by  step,  till  beaten  at  all  points,  he 
at  length  took  refuge  behind  his  works,  in  front  of  Rich- 
mond. 

Some  idea  may  be  got  of  the  perilous  nature  of  the 
crossing  which  Sedgewick  made,  by  the  following  state- 
ment of  McClellan.  After  the  battle  was  over  he  attempt- 
ed to  get  back  to  Sumner's  headquarters  by  that  bridge, 
but,  he  says,  "  I  found  the  approach  from  the  right  bank 
for  some  four  hundred  yards  submerged  to  the  depth  of 
several  feet,  and  on  reaching  the  place  where  the  bridge 
had  been,  I  found  a  great  part  of  it  carried  away,  so  that 
I  could  not  get  my  horse  over,  and  was  obliged  to  send 
him  to  Bottom's  Bridge,  six  miles  below,  as  the  only 
practicable  crossing." 

In  the  retreat  to  James  River,  Sedgewick  maintained 
his  old  renown  at  Allen's  Farm,  Savage's  Station  and 
Glendale.  In  the  battle  at  the  former  place,  he  particu- 


BATTLE    OF    SAVAGES    STATION.  421 

larly  distinguished  himself.  At  daylight  on  the  morning 
of  the  battle,  which  was  fought  to  keep  back  the  enemy 
for  one  day,  till  the  trains  and  leading  columns  could 
cross  White  Oak  S\vamp,  Sumner,  in  command  of  his  own- 
and  Heintzelman's  and  Franklin's  corps,  stood  drawn  up 
in  line  of  battle,  in  no  place  more  than  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  from  the  enemy,  while  in  front  of  Sedgewick's  line, 
the  hostile  ranks  were  not  more  than  six  hundred  yards 
distant.  But  column  after  column  was  skilfully  retired 
to  the  rear  till  a  mile  had  been  traversed. 

While  the  enemy  swarmed  through  the  abandoned 
camp  which  had  been  set  on  fire,  Sumner,  destroying 
everything  he  could  not  carry,  fell  back  to  Savage's  Sta- 
tion. Sedgewick,  who,  for  soine  days,  had  been  too 
sick  to  keep  the  saddle,  and  whose  proper  place  was  in  the 
hospital,  still  rode  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  Throwing 
off,  by  a  strong  effort  of  the  will,  his  extreme  lassitude, 
he  fought  like  a  lion  here.  Said  one  who  saw  him  next 
morning :  "  Sedgewick,  who  had  been  sick  for  days, 
stemmed  the  torrent  grimly.  His  first  words  were,  4  B., 
that  was  Burns'  fight.  He  showed  himself  a  splendid 
soldier.  Let  the  world  know  his  merits.  He  deserves 
all  you  can  say.'  Sedgewick  seldom  praises  men.  But 
he  is  a  gallant  soldier  himself,  and  he  appreciates  merit.  I 
found  General  Burns  stretched  under  a  lofty  pine,  and  his 
warriors  were  slumbering  around  him  painfully.  His 
eyes  were  hollow  and  blood-shot,  his  handsome  features 
pale  and  thin,  his  beard  and  his  clothing  were  clotted  with 
blood,  his  face  was  bandaged,  concealing  a  ragged  and 
painful  wound  in  his  lower  jaw.  His  voice  was  husky 
from  his  exhortations  and  battle-cries,  and  tremulous  with 
emotion  ;  when,  grasping  my  hand,  he  said,  with  exquisite 
pathos,  '  My  friend,  many  of  my  poor  fellows  lie  in  those 


422  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN    SEDGEWIvJK. 

forests.  It  is  terrible  to  leave  them  there ! ' '  During  the 
battle  Sedgewick  was  covered  with  dust  by  the  explosion 
of  a  shell,  but  fortunately  escaped  injury.  At  Glendale 
he  repulsed  a  furious  charge  of  the  enemy  and  held  his 
position,  and  at  Malvern  Hill  won  imperishable  renown 
with  the  other  great  commanders  that  there  broke  the 
rebel  army  into  fragments. 

He  afterwards  took  part  in  the  disastrous  campaign 
of  Pope. 

ANTIETAM. 

At  Antietam  Sedgewick's  division  was  the  first  of 
Sumner's  corps  that  came  to  the  relief  of  Hooker.  Ar- 
riving on  the  field  as  the  latter  was  borne  wounded 
to  the  rear,  he  marched  steadily  forward  in  three  columns 
and  reached  the  position  assigned  him  just  in  time  to  re- 
ceive the  last  order  of  Hooker  for  the  whole  line  to  ad- 
vance. Under  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery 
he  repeated  the  order,  "Forward,"  and  moving- swiftly 
through  a  piece  of  woods  in  his  front,  emerged  into  the 
corn-field  which  had  been  the  scene  of  a  desperate  struggle 
all  the  morning,  and  deploying  in  line  of  battle,  advanced 
boldly  into  the  enemy's  fire.  With  his  quick  eye,  he  saw 
he  was  making  a  dangerous  movement,  for  there  was  a 
large  space  between  him  and  the  nearest  supporting 
division,  offering  a  tempting  opportunity  to  the  enemy  to 
outflank  him.  Still  his  orders  were  to  advance,  and  he  did 
so,  but  at  the  same  time  directed  the  Thirty-Fourth  New 
York  regiment  to  move  by  the  left  flank,  and,  if  possible, 
protect  this  ugly  gap.  But  the  terrible  fire  under  which 
this  manoeuvre  was  executed  was  too  much  for  its  nerve, 
and  it  broke  and  fled.  The  rebels  seeing  their  advantage, 


WOUNDED    AT    ANTIETAM.  423 

i-nmediately  charged  forward  into  the  opening.  Crawford, 
on  the  right,  gave  way,  and  his  troops  pouring  through 
Sedgewick's  advance  brigade,  threw  it  into  disorder  and  it 
fell  back  on  the  second  and  third  lines.  Sedgewick's 
stout  heart  throbbed  painfully  at  the  sight;  his  calm, 
quiet  demeanor  fled,  and  he  galloped,  all  on  fire,  amid  the 
broken  ranks,  to  steady  them.  The  shot  fell  like  hail 
around  him,  yet  he  rode  through  it  apparently  uncon- 
scious of  danger.  A  bullet  pierced  his  leg,  yet  he  gave  no 
heed  to  the  wound.  Pale  and  bleeding,  he  spurred  in 
front  of  his  shattered  lines  vainly  trying  to  reform  them. 
Another  bullet  pierced  his  wrist,  but  he  still  clung  to  the 
saddle  and  still  strove  desperately  to  reform  his  broken 
columns.  But  the  fire  rained  upon  him  was  too  awful, 
and,  though  the  troops  which  he  fondly  hoped  would 
never  falter  while  his  eye  was  upon  them,  now  and  then 
struggled  manfully  to  bear  up,  yet  the  head  of  each  forma- 
tion melted  away  before  it  was  completed.  For  an  hour, 
though  faint  with  the  loss  of  blood,  he  continued  to  make 
superhuman  efforts  to  arrest  the  disaster,  but  a  last  bullet 
through  his  shoulder  was  too  much  for  even  his  iron 
frame  and  will  to  bear  up  against,  and  he  was  borne  faint- 
ing from  the  field.  His  adjutant-general  and  relative, 
Major  William  Sedge  wick,  gallantly  seconded  his  efforts, 
and  was  shot  through  the  body,  and,  after  days  of  linger- 
ing illness,  died,  arid  was  carried  back  to  rest  amid  his 
family  in  the  quiet  valley  of  Stockbridge. 

General  Sedgewick  now  returned  home  to  his  farm  in 
Cornwall,  to  recruit  his  shattered  health,  and  recover 
from  his  wounds.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  take  the 
field  again,  he  returned  to  the  army,  and  when  Hooker 
advanced  over  the  Rappahannock  to  give  Lee  battle  at 
Chancellorsville,  was  placed  over  the  left  wing,  composed 


424  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGEWICK. 

of  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men,  and  directed  to  cross 
the  river  below,  at  Fredericksbuxg,  and  storm  the  heights 
before  which  Burnside  had  been  repulsed.  He  thought, 
and  justly,  that  Lee  would  leave  a  comparatively  weak 
force  there,  as  he  would  need  all  his  troops  to  meet  him 
at  Chancellorsville. 

Crossing  a  part  of  his  force  some  two  miles  below  the 
city  without  opposition,  Sedgewick  marched  up  to  it, 
while  the  engineers  threw  pontoons  across  the  river  di- 
rectly opposite,  by  which  the  balance  effected  a  passage. 
The  first  object  was  to  take  the  earthworks  which  lined  a 
bluff,  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  city,  where  his  old 
commander  Sumner  suffered  so  severely  in  the  attempt 
of  Burnside  to  carry  the  heights.  Beneath  this  bluff 
was  the  famous  stone  wall  that  also  figured  conspicu- 
ously in  that  disastrous  battle,  between  which  and 
the  city  stretched  a  plain  that  must  be  crossed  under  a 
heavy  fire,  before  either  it  or  the  earthworks  could  be 
stormed. 

Under  cover  of  the  night,  Sedgewick  got  his  divisions 
well  up,  and  on  Sunday  morning  the  order  to  advance 
was  given.  A  heavy  artillery  fire  was  opened  on  the  en- 
emy, and  then  Newton's  division  charged  over  the  plain, 
and  reached  the  stone  wall,  but  was  compelled  to  fall 
back.  The  rebels  rained  shot  and  shell  from  the  heights, 
but  our  artillery  replied  ;  and,  under  cover  of  its  fire,  the 
infantry  advanced,  and  for  six  hours,  or  till  eleven  o'clock, 
the  battle  raged  without  cessation.  Sedgewick  now  de- 
termined to  storm  the  heights  with  the  "  Light  Brigade." 
The  latter,  under  cover  of  the  hill,  and  some  abandoned 
earthworths,  moved  along  until  it  came  directly  in  front  of 
the  most  formidable  position,  known  as  the  "  slaughter  pen, 1: 
from  the  havoc  made  with  our  troops  there  a  few  months 


CAPTURE    OF   FREDERICRSBURG    HEIGHTS.  425 

before.  Here,  throwing  aside  their  knapsacks  and  all 
clothing  that  could  impede  their  movements,  the  men  lay 
down  till  the  order  "forward"  should  be  sounded.  Sup- 
porting regiments  were  brought  up.  and  at  half-past  eleven 
the  brigade  rose  to  its  feet,  and,  while  the  town  and  hills 
around  were  lined  with  spectators,  waiting  to  see  it  swept 
from  the  earth,  with  a  loud  and  ringing  cheer,  bounded 
forward.  On  the  double  quick,  like  the  shadow  of  a  fly- 
ing cloud,  it  crossed  the  plain  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 
the  stone  wall,  under  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell;  then 
over  the  wall  with  another  shout  the  brave  fellows  dash- 
ed, and  swarming  up  the  green  sides  of  the  bluff,  rushed 
over  the  embrasures  of  the  guns,  and  scattered  the  rebels 
in  wild  confusion.  Just  as  the  clock  in  Fredericksburg 
slowly  struck  the  hour  of  twelve,  the  regimental  colors 
were  flung  out  over  the  ramparts,  and  the  famed  heights 
of  Fredericksburg  were  won.  Sedgewick  watched  the 
assault  with  the  liveliest  emotion,  and  a  smile  such  as  he- 
roes wear  wreathed  his  face  as  he  heard  the  cheers  of 
victory  ring  down  from  the  summit,  to  be  echoed  back  by 
the  watching,  excited  army  below. 

Two  whole  regiments  were  taken  prisoners  in  thi? 
gallant  charge,  with  the  famous  Washington  artillerj 
that  Lee  complimented  so  highly  in  the  attack  by  Burn 
side. 

Sedgewick  was  now  in  a  position  to  cooperate  with 
Hooker,  and  had  the  latter  been  equally  successful,  Lee's 
army  would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  annihilated. 
Leaving  a  force  to  keep  the  heights,  he  at  once  moved  out 
on  the  plank  road  in  the  direction  of  Chancellorsville.  But 
Lee  had  beaten  Hooker,  and  now  sent  a  strong  force  to  re- 
take the  captured  works,  so  that  Sedgewick  had  gone  scarcely 
four  miles,  when  he  met  the  enemy.  In  the  meantime,  ano- 


426  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGE  WICK. 

ther  force  had  passed  between  him  and  Gibbon,  who  had 
been  left  to  hold  the  heights.  It  was  evident  that  matters 
had  gone  wrong  with  Hooker,  or  such  an  overwhelming 
force  as  now  menaced  him  could  never  have  been  spared 
from  the  field  of  battle. 

This  was  on  Monday  morning,  and  Sedgewick  soon 
found  himself  pressed  in  front  and  flank,  but  he  handled 
his  troops  so  skilfully  that,  for  a  long  time,  he  kept  the 
enemy  at  bay,  and  at  length,  by  a  vigorous  charge,  drove 
him  from  the  field.  But  he  saw  at  once  that,  to  save  his 
army,  or  to  reach  Hooker  at  all,  he  must  recross  the  river 
and  march  up  the  other  side  to  the  United  States  Ford. 
So,  at  midnight,  the  movement  commenced,  and  as  silently 
as  possible  he  marched  back  toward  the  bridge.  The 
enemy,  however,  was  on  the  alert,  and  expecting  this,  had 
planted  batteries  that  commanded  the  bridge.  These  at 
once  opened,  and  shot  and  shell  went  hissing  and  blazing 
through  the  gloom.  The  column  moved  swiftly  and 
steadily  forward,  and  though  now  arid  then  a  shot  struck 
it,  making  an  ugly  rent,  and  stretching  many  a  poor  fel- 
low in  death ;  and  though  the  \vater  was  sent  in  spray 
over  the  bridge,  it  fortunately  was  not  broken,  and  the 
opposite  bank  was  reached  in  safety.  A  single  shell  ex- 
ploding at  the  right  time  and  place,  would  have  imperilled 
the  whole  army. 

Gibbon  was  also  forced  from  the  works  on  the 
heights,  after  a  sharp  fight,  and  recrossed  the  river  to 
Falmouth. 

Hooker  attempted  to  cast  blame  on  Sedgewick,  for  not 
co-operating  with  him  after  he  had  taken  Fredericksburg 
heights,  expressing  the  belief  that  if  he  had,  the  final  re- 
sult might  have  been  different :  but  facts  do  not  sustain 
his  opinion.  Sedgewick's  co-operation  was  not  based  on 


A   LONG   MARCH.  427 

Hooker's  defeat,  but  on  his  success.  Each  was  to  do  his 
own  part,  and  if  both  were  successful,  Lee's  army  would, 
in  all  probability,  be  ruined ;  but  the  failure  of  either 
could  make  it  no  better  than  a  drawn  battle. 

In  the  invasion  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  by 
Lee, "  that  followed,  Sedgewick  commanded  the  Sixth 
Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Hooker,  and 
afterwards,  under  Meade.  When  the  latter  found  that  a 
battle  must  be  fought  at  Gettysburg,  he  at*  once  sent  off 
swift  riders  to  the  different  corps,  to  concentrate  there 
with  all  speed.  The  despatch  found  General  Sedgewick 
just  gone  into  camp,  after  a  long  day's  march.  Making 
a  few  hasty  enquiries,  he  at  once  comprehended  the  entire 
situation,  and  rousing  up  his  tired  soldiers  at  nine  o'clock 
at  night,  put  his  columns  in  motion.  It  was  a  terrible 
march  that  hot  July  night,  after  a  toilsome  day,  for  they 
were  kept  at  the  quick  marching  step,  except  at  short  in- 
tervals of  rest,  all  night  long.  A  brief  halt  for  breakfast, 
and  again  they  were  in  motion.  Soon  the  deep  heavy  vibra- 
tions from  the  far-off  explosions  of  artillery,  told  himx 
that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  closed  with  the  enemy. 
That  forenoon  was  one  of  intense  excitement  to  him.  A 
heavy  battle  was  raging  in  the  distance,  and  he  was  not 
there  to  bear  a  soldier's  part  in  it,  besides,  the  absence 
of  his  corps  might  be  the  turning  weight  in  the  scale. 
Toward  noon,  he  knew  by  the  firing  that  he  was  fast  ap- 
proaching the  battle-field,  and  he  urged  his  weary,  foot- 
sore, staggering  army  to  greater  speed.  At  length,  at 
two  o'clock — having  marched  thirty  miles  since  nine  the 
evening  before — the  heads  of  his  columns  were  seen  com- 
ing up  the  road.  It  was  an  astonishing  march;  and 
shows  with  what  implicit  faith  Meade  could  rely  on  his 
doing  all  that  man  can  do.  His  exhausted  corps  was  in 


428  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   SEDGEWICK. 

no  condition  to  go  into  the  fight,  and  Meade  held  it  in  re* 
serve.  Yet,  he  was  so  hard  pressed  at  times,  that  he 
again  and  again  called  on  it,  and  Sedgewick  sent  forward 
brigade  after  brigade,  just  in  time  to  arrest  the  onsets  of 
the  enemy. 

The  morning  after  the  battle  was  over,  and  it  was 
found  that  Lee  had  retreated,  Sedgewick  was  sent  in 
pursuit.  He  pressed  the  retiring  columns  till  he  came  to 
Fairfield  Pass,  where  he  halted,  and  reported  to  General 
Meade,  that  a  small  force  at  that  place  could  keep  at  bay 
one  of  vastly  superior  numbers.  This  report  induced 
Meade  to  abandon  the  direct  pursuit,  and  follow  the  rebel 
army,  east  of  the  Cumberland  mountains,  and  try  to  bring 
him  to  bay  before  he  could  cross  the  Potomac. 

Afterwards,  when  Meade  resolved  to  cross  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  Sedgewick  was  conspicuous  for  his  skill  and 
bravery,  capturing  guns,  prisoners,  &c.,  at  Rappahannock 
Ford. 

While  the  army  was  in  winter  quarters  that  season, 
Meade  was  taken  sick,  and  went  to  Philadelphia,  to  re- 
cruit his  health,  leaving  Sedgewick  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  General  French  having  been 
charged,  by  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
with  being  drunk  in  a  battle  the  autumn  previous, 
Sedgewick,  who  was  also  in  the  engagement,  indignant  at 
the  slander,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  former,  which  was 
published,  and  is  about  the  only  thing  of  his  published 
during  the  war.  He  never  appeared  in  print  over  his 
own  signature,  and  made  no  public  speeches.  But 
this  slander  of  a  brother  officer  so  touched  his  sense 
of  honor,  that  he  broke  through  his  habitual  silence, 
and  by  his  voluntary  testimony,  nailed  the  falsehood 
forever. 


A   NOBLE    LETIER.  429 

This  is  the  letter  : 

HEADaTJARTEES,  SlXTH  ARWY  CORPS,  ) 

.  BRANDY  STATION,  Jan.  12,  1864.     j 

MT  DEAE  GENEEAL  : 

I  have  seen  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  an  article  in  rela- 
tion to  the  operatioDs  in  the  late  advance  to  Mine  Kun  which  is  grossly 
unjust,  not  only  to  you,  but  to  the  general  commanding  the  Army  of  the 
^otomac.  I  do  not  recall  the  exact  terms  of  the  article  in  question,  but  it 
charged  in  substance,  that  you  were  too  much  under  the  influence  of  liquor 
during  the  battle  of  Locust  Grove,  to  understand  the  position  of  affairs;  and 
it  purported  to  be  based  on  a  conversation  had  with  Major-General  Meade. 
While  I  am  confident  that  no  such  conversation  could  have  occurred,  I 
nevertheless  feel  bound  to  place  in  your  possession  my  emphatic  testimony 
as  to  the  utter  falsity  of  the  charge.  I  had  ample  opportunities  of  observing 
you  during  that  engagement.  I  had  been  directed  to  support  your  advance, 
and  joined  you  in  person  at  the  commencement  of  the  action,  and  was  with 
you  for  some  time  after  its  close.  During  all  this  time  I  saw  nothing  in 
your  manner,  or  management  of  affairs,  to  give  ground  for  the  suspicion 
that  you  were  in  the  slightest  degree  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  On  the 
contrary,  the  dispositions  made  by  you,  of  your  own  troops,  and  of  such  of 
mine  as  were  placed  at  your  disposal,  and  your  own  personal  bearing  during 
the  action,  were  such  as  to  enable  me  to  speak  with  absolute  certainty  on 
the  accusation  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  to  pronounce  it  wantonly  false 
in  every  particular. 

I  am,  very  truly, 

JOHN  SEDGE WICK,  Major-General. 
Major-General  French,  Commanding  Third  Corps. 

This  set  that  charge  to  rest,  for  the  single  testimony 
of  John  Sedgewick  would  outweigh  throughout  the 
army,  the  statement  of  every  correspondent  in  the  land. 
A  thorough  gentleman  as  well  as  soldier,  his  word  was 
never  doubted. 

When  Grant  commenced  his  great  campaign  against 
Richmond  the  following  May,  Sedgewick  stUl  com- 
manded the  Sixth  Corps,  constituting  the  right  wing. 
The  mighty  army  moved  upon  the  Rapidan,  crossing  in 
two  places  without  opposition — Warren  and  Hancock  at 
Ely's,  and  Sedgewick  at  Germania  Fords. 

Lee's  plan  was  to  fall  on  these  several  portions  before 


430  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN    SEDGEWICK. 

they  could  be  concentrated  on  the  farther  side,  and  his 
first  grand  attack  was  on  Sedgewick,  who  crossed  last, 
and  lay  near  the  river.  He  came  on  with  tremendous 
force,  and  a  terrific  fight  followed,  which  was  a  fit  open- 
ing to  the  fearful  final  struggle  of  the  rebellion.  Sedgewick's 
corps  had  been  trained  for  just  such  work  as  this,  and  it 
met  and  hurled  back  the  mighty  columns  of  the  enemy  as 
the  shore  heaves  back  the  billows.  The  fighting  was  kept 
up  till  nine  o'clock  at  night,  when  the  weary  troops  rested 
on  their  arms.  The  next  morning  the  army  was  in  line 
of  battle,  and  Lee  advanced  with  his  entire  force  against 
it.  On  the  right,  A.  P.  Hill  came  on  with  the  shout  of 
victory,  but  was  met  and  steadily  hurled  back  by  Sedge- 
wick. 

Baffled  at  every  point,  Lee  was  finally  compelled  to 
retreat,  and  marched  rapidly  for  Spottsylvania  Court 
House.  It  was  here  that  Sedgewick  fell.  He  rode  out 
to  superintend  the  mounting  of  some  cannon,  and  though 
there  was  no  skirmishing  at  the  time,  the  sharpshooters 
were  busy,  and  every  now  and  then  the  sharp  "whist" 
or  ringing  sound  of  a  bullet  passing  near,  made  the  can- 
noniers  wince  and  dodge.  One  near  him  ducking  as  a 
bullet  swept  by,  Sedgewick  laughed  at  him,  saying, 
"Pooh,  man,  you  can't  hit  an  elephant  at  that  distance." 
The  next  moment,  a  ball  struck  him  in  the  eye,  passing 
directly  into  his  brain.  The  blood  gushed  from  his 
nostrils;  "he  smiled  serenely,  and  fell  dead  in  the  arms 
of  his  assistant  adjutant-general."  He  fell  as  he  would 
like  to  have  fallen,  not  wounded  and  mangled,  but  sud- 
denly, and  on  the  field.  With  him  departed  the  might 
of  more  than  ten  thousand  men ;  and  Grant  felt  that  one 
of  his  strongest  props  had  given  way,  and  mourned  his 
death  sincerely.  The  arrival  of  his  body  in  Washington 


HIS    CHARACTER.  431 

filled  the  city  with  sadness,  for  not  only  had  a  strong 
man  fallen,  but  one  .universally  beloved. 

His  body  was  carried  to  his  old  boyhood's  home, 
where  the  name  had  been  a  household  word  for  a  century, 
and  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  sweet  spring  time,  amid 
the  fields  where  he  had  roamed  in  childhood.  The  rural 
inhabitants  gathered  from  far  and  near,  till  six  hun- 
dred wagons  crowded  around  the  old  homestead.  With 
tears  and  prayers  they  laid  him  in  his  grave,  murmuring 
mournfully : 


44  He  sleeps  his  last  sleep,  he  has  fought  his  last  battle, 
No  sound  can  awake  him  to  glory  again." 


Said  one  who  knew  him  for  years :  "A  nobler  and  more 
generous  man  never  lived — a  truer  patriot  and  more  per 
feet  soldier ;  devoted  to  his  profession,  most  at  home  in 
the  field,  conversant  with  men,  and  controlling  them  with 
a  surplus  of  moral  force,  strict  yet  popular,  brave  to  a 
fault,  he  is  an  immense  loss  to  the  army.  Let  the  country 
do  Sedgewick's  memory  honor,  for  no  nobler  son  has  laid 
down  his  life  for  her." 

General  Sedgewick  was  a  man  of  rare  character.  In 
the  field,  his  judgment  was  clear,  cool,  and  correct ;  in  the 
high  tide  of  battle,  he  was  a  rock,  that  nothing  could  unseat. 
Not  seeking  advancement,  he  arose,  like  McPherson  and 
Thomas,  by  his  merits  alone.  Every  commander  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  leaned  heavily  upon  him, 
showing  that  it  contained  no  greater  division  and  corps 
leader.  In  this  position  he  was  always  kept,  though  he 
was  eminently  qualified  for  a  separate  command.  His 
mind  was  cast  in  a  large  mould,  and  he  was  capable  of 
great  combinations,  while  his  thoroughly  soldierly  qualities 


432  MAJOR-GENERAL    JOHN   SEDGE  WICK. 

prevented  him  from  trying  any  rash  experiments.  If  he 
had  any  fault,  he  was  too  brave  for  a  leader,  for  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  expose  himself  like  a  common  soldier. 
He  was  a  man  of  few  words ;  yet,  the  few  he  did  utter, 
went  farther  than  many  spoken  by  others.  Like  Thomas, 
he  made  no  harangues  to  his  troops,  yet  his  quiet  appro- 
bation was  worth  more  to  them  than  the  highest  eulogies 
from  any  other  source.  He  had  the  high  sense  of  honor 
of  an  ancient  knight,  and  so  unsullied  did  he  maintain  it, 
that  no  slander  of  enemies  or  rivals  ever  assailed  it.  In 
an  army  that  passed  through  such  strange  vicissitudes, 
and  suffered  such  terrible  misfortunes,  that  scarcely  a 
leading  general  in  it  can  be  named  that  at  one  time  or 
another  was  not  subject  to  censure,  he  stood  unassailed  ; 
so  that  men  ceased  to  feel  any  anxiety  respecting  results 
in  that  part  of  the  field  where  Sedgewick  commanded. 
There  was  a  magnetic  power  in  his  presence,  inviting, 
nay,  compelling  confidence.  Though  a  strict  disciplin- 
arian, he  nevertheless  was  dearly  loved  by  his  soldiers, 
and  as  soldiers  always  do,  they  showed  it  by  giving  him  a 
familiar  appellation,  and  he  was  known  throughout  the 
corps  as  "Uncle  John" 

In  personal  appearance,  he  was  about  the  medium 
height,  with  dark  hair,  a  dark,  calm,  almost  solemn  eye, 
indicating  great  repose  of  character,  and  great  reserve 
power.  Simple  in  his  habits,  and  a  soldier  in  his  tastes, 
he  preferred  to  have  his  headquarters  in  his  tent,  rather 
than  in  a  house.  We  never  shall  forget  the  last  time  we 
saw  him  in  his  tent,  pitched  in  the  woods  of  Virginia, 
with  no  appearance  of  his  rank  about  him.  Sitting  with 
his  young  adjutant-general,  who'  fell  at  Antietam,  he  con- 
versed with  all  the  simplicity  he  would  have  done  had  he 
been  a  farmer  in  his  old  homestead. 


HIS    CHARACTER.  433 

A  great  general,  a  true  patriot,  and  a  noble  man,  he 
goes  to  swell  the  list-  of  extraordinary  military  chieftains 
which  this  war  has  developed,  and  then  taken  from  us.  He 
was  never  married,  and  died  without  a  will,  leaving  a 
brother  and  sister  to  mourn  around  his  grave,  placed 
near  the  spot  where  they  played  together  in  childhood. 

Peace  to  his  ashes. 


CHAPTER   XX. 


MAJOR-GENEKAL  JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 

GENERALS  FROM  CIVIL  LIFE — LOGAN'S  BIRTH  AND  NATIVITY  AND  EARLY 
EDUCATION — SERVES  IN  THE  MEXICAN  WAR — STUDIES  LAW — HIS  PO- 
LITICAL LIFE — VIEWS  ON  BEING  A  CANDIDATE  FOR  CONGRESS  IN  1860 — 
FIGHTS  IN  THE  RANKS  AT  BULL  RUN — RAISES  A  REGIMENT  AND  IS  MADE  - 
COLONEL — GALLANTRY  AT  BELMONT  —  FORT  HENRY  —  DESPERATELY 
WOUNDED  AT  FORT  DONELSON — UNDER  GRANT — HIS  CAREER  DURING  THE 
VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN — TAKES  THE  STUMP  FOR  THE  ADMINISTRATION — 
PLACED  OVER  SHERMAN'S  CORPS  IN  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN — BATTLE 
BEFORE  ATLANTA — HIS  COURSE  IN  THE  POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1864 — 
JOINS  SHERMAN  AT  SAVANNAH — HIS  CHARACTER  AND  PERSONAL  APPEAR- 
ANCE. 

IT  is  singular  that  a  war,  calling  into  being  an  army 
of  such  vast  magnitude  as  ours,  and  composed  almost 
entirely  of  the  militia  of  the  country,  and  officered  by 
civilians,  should  have  produced  scarcely  an  able  general 
from  civil  life.  When  the  highest  position  is  open  to 
every  one,  it  is  always  expected  that  a  fair  proportion  of 
those  not  entitled  to  it  by  birth  or  education  should  attain 
to  it  by  merit  alone.  Some  of  Bonaparte's  greatest  mar- 
shals rose  from  the  ranks,  the  most  unpromising  place  for 
a  man  to  show  any  of  the  qualities  that  make  a  general, 
except  the  common  one  of  personal  courage,  yet  in  this 
war,  scores  have  been  placed,  at  the  start,  where  their 
abilities  could  have  fair  play,  and  yet  only  here  and  there 


HIS   EAKLT  LIFE  435 

one  has  proved  equal  to  the  responsibilities  placed  upon 
him.  What  is  more  extraordinary  still,  the  training  fur 
nished  by  active  service  in  the  field,  better,  one  wo  aid 
think,  than  any  theoretical  education,  has  scarcely  in  a 
single  instance,  clone  any  good — on  the  contrary,  the 
general,  instead  of  growing  up  to  his  position,  has  actual- 
ly deteriorated  all  through  his  process  of  training. 

Circumstances,  usually,  make  men — call  out  the  great 
minds  needed  at  that  particular  juncture.  This  is  an  old 
truth  and  has  been  verified  in  our  case  during  this  war  ; 
but  what  seems  strange  is,  that  they  have  not  brought  to 
the  surface  more  great  leaders  from  civil  life.  Our  dis- 
tinguished generals  have  risen  to  eminence  on  the  firm 
foundation  of  early  education,  and  not  by  mere  force  of 
genius. 

There  is,  however,  one  remarkable  exception.  John 
A.  Logan  never  received  a  military  education,  yet  he  has 
obtained  a  place  among  the  first  generals  produced  by  the 
war.  Stepping  from  the  halls  of  Congress  into  the  ranks, 
he  rose  to  the  command  of  an  army  by  military  ability 
and  success  alone. 

He  was  born  in  Murphysboro,  Jackson  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  9th  of  February,  1826,  and  hence  was  but 
thirty-five  years  of  age  when,  the  war  broke  out.  His 
father  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  and  emigrated  to  this- 
country,  like  so  many  others,  to  better  his  fortune.  He 
married  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  John  Alexander  was 
the  first  child  of  a  family  of  eleven.  Living  in  a  new 
and  sparsely  settled  country,  where  common  schools  were 
unknown,  John's  early  education  was  sadly  neglectr 
ed.  When  the  war  broke  out  with  Mexico  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  being  naturally  of  a  military 
bent,  he,  like  many  other  young  men,  volunteered  and, 

28 


436  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   A.    LOGAN. 

f 

was   elected  lieutenant  in   the  First  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteers. 

In  1848  he  returned  to  his  native  State,  and  entered 
on  the  study  of  law,  into  which  he  threw  his  whole  soul, 
as  he  did  into  everything  he  undertook.  With  the  enthu- 
siasm and  quickness  of  the  race  from  which  he  sprung  on 
his  father's  side,  he  made  more  rapid  progress  than  most 
young  men  who  had  enjoyed  greatly  superior  advantages, 
In  1849  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  his  native  County,  which 
position  he  held  for  a  year,  and  then  went  to  Louisville 
to  finish  his  law  studies.  In  1851  he  was  licensed  to 
practise,  and  returning  home,  entered  into  business  with 
his  uncle,  Alexander  M.  Jenkins.  A  ready,  enthusiastic 
speaker,  he  took  an  active  part  in  politics,  and  soon  be- 
came very  popular  with  the  Democrats  of  the  county ;  so 
much  so,  that  he  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  of 
the  Judicial  district  in  which  he  lived.  The  following 
autumn  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature.  In  1855 
he  married  a  Miss  Mary  S.  Cunningham,  of  Shawneetown, 
and  the  next  year  was  appointed  Presidential  Elector 
from  his  district.  In  1858  he  was  elected  to  Congress  on 
the  Democratic  ticket,  and  in  1860  again  became  a  candi- 
date, though  he  said  that  if  he  thought  Mr.  Lincoln  would 
be  elected  he  would  not  run>  as  he  did  not  desire  to  spend 
another  such  winter  in  Congress  as  the  last.  "But," 
said  he,  "Ifhe  is  elected,  I  will  shoulder  my  musket  and 
have  him  inaugurated  !  "  He  was  again  returned  to  Con- 
gress and  took  part  in  the  momentous  deliberations  of  the 
session  of  1861.  On  one  occasion,  when  speaking  of  se- 
cession, he  said  "the  men  of  the  West  will  hew  their  way 
to  the  Gulf."  He  was  in  Washington  when  the  news  of 
the  fall  of  Sumter  shook  the  nation  with  sudden  excite- 
ment, fear  and  rage,  and  there  also  when  the  capital 


FIGHTS   IN   THE   RANKS.  437 

was  cut  off  from  the  North  by  the  mob  at  Baltimore — and 
with  beating  heart,  saw  the  gathering  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  soldiers  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  When  Mc- 
Dowell took  up  his  march  for  the  fatal  battle-field  of  Bull 
Bun,  he  could  no  longer  control  his  excited  feelings,  and 
leaving  his  seat  in  Congress,  started  off  after  the  army, 
and  overtaking  Colonel  Richardson's  regiment,  seized  a 
musket  and  marching  onward  in  the  ranks,  fought  like  a 
lion  on  that  hot  July  day,  being  one-  of  the  last  to  leave 
the  disastrous  field. 

In  August  he  returned  home  to  Marion,  where  he 
then  resided,  and  so  roused  the  people  of  the  vicinity  by 
his  eloquence,  that  in  two  weeks  a  regiment  (the  Thirty- 
First)  was  raised,  of  which  he  was  made  Colonel 
In  less  than  two  ,months  he  led  it  into  battle  under 
McClernand,  at  Belmont  Intensely  excited,  he  raised 
the  courage  of  his  troops  to  the  highest  pitch  by  his  elo- 
quent appeals  and  gallant  bearing,  and  in  one  of  the 
charges  had  his  horse  shot  under  him.  After  the  rebel 
camp  was  captured,  the  garrison  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  in  Columbus,  sent  a  strong  force  across  in  our  rear 
to  cut  the  army  off  from  its  boats,  some  distance  up  stream. 
McClernand,  therefore,  gave  the  order  to  retreat,  and  in 
reply  to  a  question  from  Logan  as  to  what  he  should  do, 
said:  "Cut  your  way  out;  order  your  flag  to  the  front." 
Inspired  by  an  order  so  congenial  to  his  feelings,  Logan 
dashed  along  his  line  shouting,  "Men,  we  are  to  cut  our 
way  out,"  and  ordering  the  flag  to  be  moved  to  the  front, 
he  marched  straight  back  on  the  enemy,  and  through  his 
lines  to  the  boats. 

From  that  time  on,  by  the  side  of  either  Grant  or 
Sherman,  he  was  ever  found,  to  the  close  of  the  war. 
With  the  former  he  went  through  the  campaigns  up  tne 


438  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   A.    LOGAN. 

Cumberland  and  Tennessee,  and  after  the  evacuation  of 
Fort  Henry  followed  after  the  enemy  with  two  hundred 
cavalry,  capturing  eight  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the  invest- 
ment of  Fort  Donelson  he  was  with  McClernand's  divi- 
sion of  three  brigades,  which  formed  the  right  wing  that 
rested  on  the  river  above  the  works,  and  which  on  that 
cold  Saturday  morning  received  the  onset  of  more  than 
half  the  rebel  army.  The  fighting  here  was  terrific,  and 
our  men,  though  nobly  struggling  to  hold  their  ground, 
were  steadily  borne  back.  Logan's  regiment,  overwhelmed 
by  a  desperate  assault,  was  thrown  into  confusion,  the 
sight  of  which  drove  him  half  frantic,  and  he  galloped 
amid  the  broken  ranks,  rallying  them  by  his  stirring 
appeals,  and  furnishing  them  an  example  of  bravery  by 
his  own  reckless  exposure  of  his  person.  In  the  midst  of 
his  gallant  efforts  a  bullet  entered  his  left  arm  near  the 
shoulder.  He,  however,  still  kept  the  saddle  and  rode 
amid  the  fire  with  the  blood  streaming  down  his  side. 
Soon  after  he  was  struck  in  the  thigh  twice,  yet  hte  still 
continued  to  harangue  his  men;  "stand  firm,"  he  shouted, 
though  he  began  to  feel  a  deadly  sickness  at  his  heart 
from  loss  of  blood.  He  could  hardly  retain  his  seat  in 
the  saddle,  yet  refused  to  dismount  until  the  arrival  of 
reinforcements.  He  then  allowed  himself  to  be  carried 
from  the  field. 

Before  his  wounds  were  healed  he  was  attacked  with 
diseasef  which  came  near  ending  his  career.  But  as  soon. 
as  he  was  able  to  be  moved  he  was  taken  home,  where  he 
rapidly  recovered,  and  in  April  reported  himself  to  Grant 
at  Pittsburg  Landing.  In  the  meantime  he  had  been 
promoted  Brigadier-General,  to  date  from  March  5th. 

In  the  movement  against  Corinth  by  Halleck,  he 
commanded  a  brigade,  and  afterward  till  the  latter  part 


PATRIOTIC    VIEWS.  439 

of  June,  took  charge  of  the  railroad  between  Jackson  and 
Columbus.  As  soon  as  it  was  in  running  order  he 
assumed  command  of  the  forces  in  the  latter  place. 

In  preparing  for  the  next  fall's  political  campaign,  the 
democrats  of  his  district  wished  him  to  run  again  for 
Congress.  He  refused,  however,  to  be  a  candidate,  say- 
ing that  he  had  ,no  politics  now  but  attachment  to  the 
Union,  and  that  it  was  his  settled  resolution  to  serve  his 
country  on  the  field  of  battle  till  its  integrity  was  restored. 
"No,"  said  he,  "I  am  to-day  a  soldier  of  the  Republic,  so 
to  remain  changeless  and  immutable,  until  her  last  and 
weakest  enemy  has  expired  and  passed  away.  I  have 
entered  the  field  to  die,  if  need  be,  for  this  government,  and 
never  expect  to  return  to  peaceful  pursuits  until  this  war 
of  preservation  has  become  a  fact  established.  What- 
ever means  it  may  be  necessary  to  adopt,  whatever  local 
interest  it  may  affect  or  destroy,  is  no  longer  an  affair  of 
mine.  If  any  locality  or  section  suffers  or  is  wronged  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  I  am  sorry  for  it;  but  I  say 
it  must  not  be  heeded  now,  for  we  are  at  war  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  Let  the  evil  be  rectified  when 
the  present  breach  has  been  cemented  forever.11 

In  Grant's  winter  campaign  in  1862  and  1863,  in 
northern  Mississippi,  Logan  commanded  a  division. 
Promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major- General,  he  was  now 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Third  Division  of  Mc- 
Pherson's  Seventeenth  Army  Corps. 

In  the  grand  campaign  against  Vicksburg  that  fol- 
lowed, Logan  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  At  Port  Gibson 
he  came  up  to  the  battle-field  just  in  time  to  secure  vic- 
tory to  the  Thirteenth  Corps.  In  the  march  on  Ray- 
mond, his  division  led  the  advance,  and  opened  the  battle, 
and  after  some  sharp  fighting,  forced  the  enemy  to  fall 


440  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   A.    LOGAN. 

back  to  a  very  strong  position  in  rear  of  a  creek.  This, 
Logan  was  ordered  to  charge,  and  a  desperate  struggle 
followed.  In  the  contest,  two  regiments  had  advanced 
too  far  from  their  support,  and  came  near  being  cut  off 
by  a  sudden  dash  of  the  enemy ;  one  of  them  suffering  se- 
verely. In  the  height  of  the  disaster,  McPherson  and 
his  staff  rode  on  the  field.  Logan,  seeing  his  line  about 
to  be  crushed,  and  thinking  defeat  certain,  burst  into 
tears,  but  McPherson  speaking  a  few  words  to  him,  he 
wheeled,  and  putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  dashed  amid  the 
confused  ranks,  and  rallying  them  by  his  voice  and  pres- 
ence, rode  to  their  head  and  bade  them  follow.  With  a 
cheer  they  sprang  forward,  and  fell  with  such  sudden,  un- 
expected fury  on  the  astonished  rebels,  that  they  were 
driven  back  in  confusion.  Reinforcements  now  coming 
up,  the  whole  line  advanced,  and  the  strong  position  was 
carried. 

The  battle  of  Raymond,  which  "Grant  called  one 
of  the  hardest  small  battles  of  the  war,"  was  won  by 
Logan's  division  alone.  The  numbers  on  both  sides  were 
probably  about  equal ;  but  the  rebels  had  greatly  the  ad- 
vantage in  position.  An  eye-witness  says,  "  General  Lo- 
gan was,  as  usual,  full  of  zeal,  and  intoxicated  with  en- 
thusiasm. His  horse  was  shot  twice.  If  you  ever  hear 
that  Logan  is  defeated,  make  up  your  mind  that  he  and 
most  of  his  men  have  been  sacrificed.  He  has  stricken 
the  word  *  retreat'  from  his  military  lexicon." 

In  the  battle  of  Champion's  Hill,  Hovey,  who  had 
manfully  contended  against  superior  numbers  for  a  long 
time,  was  at  length  forced  back  half  a  mile,  when,  re- 
ceiving reinforcements,  he  was  just  commencing  a  for- 
ward movement  again,  as  he  saw  the  bayonets  of  Logan's 
division  swiftly  advancing  to  his  help. 


METHODIST   REGIMENT.  441 

.,-Tj    »f 

In  -the  midst  of  the  fight,  an  officer  rode  up  to  Logan 
to  enquire  how  the  battle  was  going.  uTell  General 
Grant,"  he  replied,  "that  my  division  can't  be  whipped 
by  all  the  rebels  this  side  of  h — 1.  We  are  going  ahead, 
and  won't  stop  till  we  get  orders." 

In  the  same  battle,  the  Twenty-fourth  Iowa,  called 
the  "  Methodist  regiment,"  because  the  colonel  and  sev- 
eral of  the  captains  were  Methodist  preachers,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  soldiers  Methodist  professors  of  religion, 
greatly  distinguished  itself — fighting  with  the  same  en- 
thusiasm they  would  sing  at  a  camp-meeting.  The  major 
being  wounded,  limped  from  the  field  to  go  to  the  rear. 
In  doing  so,  he  encountered  a  stalwart  rebel,  whom  he 
captured,  and  mounting  his  back,  made  him  carry  him  to 
the  provost-marshal^  headquarters,  where  he  delivered 
him  up.  That  night,  the  Methodist  regiment,  though  it 
had  been  sadly  depleted,  held  a  religious  meeting,  and 
made  the  woods  resound  with  their  stirring  hymns. 

During  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  that  followed,  Mo 
Pherson's  corps  'held  the  centre  of  our  line,  and  Logan 
the  centre  of  the  corps,  near  where  Grant  had  his  head- 
quarters. After  the  explosion  of  the  mine  under  the 
main  fort,  he  made  the  desperate  assault  that  followed, 
and  which  came  so  near  succeeding.  On  the  surrender 
of  the  place,  his  division  was  given  the  post  of  honor ; 
leading  the  advance  of  the  column  of  occupation,  while  he 
was  put  in  command  of  the  place.  A  medal  of  honor 
was  voted  him  by  the  renowned  corps  of  McPherson,  in- 
scribed with  the  names  of  the  battles  in  which  he  had 
taken  part. 

But  now,  for  awhile,  he  left  the  military  for  the  polit- 
ical field.  Though  a  prominent  democrat,  he  warmly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  government ;  declaring  that 


442         MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 

the  salvation  of  the  country  depended  on  giving  it  a 
hearty  support.  Such  a  champion  from  the  ranks  of 
the  opposition  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  remain  idle,  and 
he  was  sent  through  the  North  to  make  stump  speeches 
for  the  administration.  A  capital  speaker,  bold,  fluent, 
and  enthusiastic,  he  carried  great  influence  with  him. 

When  Grant  was  made  Lieutenant- General,  and  Sher- 
man took  his  place  as  commander  of  the  Military  Di- 
vision of  the  Mississippi,  Logan  took  Sherman's  place  as 
commander  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  Assuming 
command  in  November,  he,  during  the  winter,  made 
preparations  for  the  Georgia  campaign,  which  was  to 
open  in  the  spring. 

When  Sherman,  on  the  1st  of  May,  moved  out  of 
Chattanooga,  and  made  his  first  great  flank  movement  to 
Resaca,  by  McPherson,  Logan  led  the  advance,  and  took 
part  in  the  battle  that  followed,  as  he  also  did  in  that  of 
Kenesaw  Mountain. 

In  the  desperate  assault  of  Hood,  at  Atlanta,  upon 
McPherson,  he  fought  as  he  never  fought  before.  All 
the  forenoon  of  that  memorable  22d  of  July,  his  clarion 
voice  rang  over  the  clamor  of  battle,  steadying  his  men, 
and  holding  them  to  their  desperate  work.  Again  and 
again  the  massive  columns  of  the  enemy  came  fiercely  on, 
and,  scoffing  at  death,  moved  madly  up  to  the  muzzles  of 
his  guns.  A  portion  actually  got  in  his  works,  when 
Logan  fought  them  from  the  outside.  The  last  message 
that  McPherson  sent  on  earth  was  to  Logan.  Just  be* 
fore  he  entered  the  woods  where  he  fell,  he  despatched  a 
member  of  his  staff  to  him,  directing  him  to  throw  a 
brigade  across  a  gap  between  his  own  corps  and  the  Six- 
teenth, and  then  meet  him  at  Smith's  headquarters  be- 
yond. Alas,  that  meeting  never  took  place. 


A*  BATTLE    CRY.  443 

When  his  death  was  announced  to  Logan,  at  one 
o'clock,  he  immediately,  as  senior  officer,  assumed  tem- 
porary command,  and  roused  into  higher  excitement  by 
the  sudden  responsibility  thrown  upon  him,  and  the  death 
of  his  beloved  commander,  rode  furiously  along  the  lines, 
shouting,  "  McPherson  and  revenge !  "  The  soldiers  took 
it  up,  and,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  yet  deadly  hate  in 
their  hearts,  exceeded  in  daring  and  desperation  their 
gallant  conduct  of  the  forenoon.  Under  the  inspiration 
of  Logan's  eye,  and  voice,  and  bearing,  and  borne  on- 
ward by  the  fearful  slogan,  "  McPherson  and  revenge !  " 
they  charged  with  resistless  fury  on  the  foe,  and,  like 
stout  mowers  in  the  harvest,  laid  fearful  swaths  of  dead 
men  where  they  moved.  Logan  officially  reported  the 
enemy's  dead  in  his  front  at  three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty,  of  which  number  his  own  soldiers  buried  over 
two  thousand — and  that  their  total  loss  would  be  nearly 
twelve  thousand.  Eighteen  stand  of  colors,  and  five 
thousand  small  arms  were  left  in  his  hands. 

Logan  showed  in  this  battle  that  he  could  handle  a 
large  army  with  consummate  skill,  and  added  greatly  to 
his  well-earned  reputation. 

Howard  was  now  placed  over  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee in  the  place  of  McPherson,  when  Hood  made 
another  desperate  assault  upon  it.  It  had  been  put  in 
motion  to  get  on  the  railroad  at  East  Point,  and  Hood, 
aware  of  it,  came  out  of  Atlanta,  and  after  a  heavy  ar- 
tillery fire,  advanced  in  parallel  lines  directly  against 
Logan's  corps,  expecting,  as  Sherman  said,  "to  catch 
that  flank  in  air."  Logan  watched  the  magnificent  ap- 
proach of  the  columns  with  dilating  eye,  and  when  near 
enough,  he  opened  on  them  such  a  destructive  fire  that 
the  ranks  broke  and  fled.  But  they  were  "  rallied  again. 


444  MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   A.    LOGAN. 

and  as  often  as  six  times  at  some  points,"  but  the  few 
rebel  officers  and  men  that  reached  our  lines  of  rail-piles 
were  either  killed  or  hauled  over  as  prisoners.  The 
struggle  lasted  four  hours,  but  at  last  the  rebels  gave 
way,  with  a  loss  of  six  thousand. 

After  the  evacuation  of  Atlanta,  Logan  came  home 
to  stump  the  Western  States  for  Lincoln.  A  leading 
democrat,  a  gallant  soldier,  a  successful  general,  and  a 
popular  orator,  he  was  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  Ad- 
ministration, and  was  kept  hard  at  work  in  the  political 
field,  while  the  corps  that  he  loved  was  preparing,  under 
another  leader,  for  a  campaign  more  extraordinary  even 
than  the  last.  With  the  natural  intensity  of  his  character, 
he  threw  himself  as  enthusiastically  into  this  political 
campaign  as  he  had  always  done  into  a  military  one. 
His  course  naturally  created  great  excitement  in  the 
ranks  of  his  former  political  friends,  and  in  many  quarters 
he  was  fiercely  denounced  ;  but  believing,  as  he  did,  that 
the  policy  which  the  Administration  had  adopted  was 
the  only  safe  one  for  the  country,  he  did  not  care. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  election  being  secured,  his  attention 
was  naturally  turned  again  to  the  military  field,  and  join- 
ing Sherman's  army,  at  Savannah,  he  resumed  the 
command  of  his  old  corps,  and  at  the  head  of  it,  made 
that  wonderful  campaign  through  the  Carolinas.  After 
the  capitulation  of  Johnston,  he  marched  his  men  across 
the  country  to  Alexandria,  and  rode  at  their  head  in  the 
subsequent  grand  review  at  Washington.  / 

Howard  being  appointed  at  this  time  chief  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  Logan  took  his  place,  as  commander 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

As  a  civilian,  devoting  himself  suddenly  to  military 
life,  Logan  took  the  only  true  course.  A  Democrat,  and 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  445 

a  leading  one  too,  he  could  easily,  as  a  supporter  of  the 
Government,  at  a  time  when  politics  made  generals,  have 
arisen  at  a  single  bound  to  a  high  command.  But  he 
did  not  desire  this  ;  from  the  hall  of  Congress  he  stepped 
into  the  ranks,  and  shouldering  his  musket,  and  tramping 
on  foot  beside  the  hjumblest  soldier,  did  a  yeoman's  part 
in  the  first  great  battle  for  the  life  of  the  republic.  Such  a 
man  deserves  rank,  and  if  he  lives  is  sure  to  get  it.  A 
friend  thus  speaks  of  him :  "  The  character  of  Logan 
may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  "words.  He  has  a  large 
mind,  stored  with  liberal  views.  He  has  a  heart  open  to 
acts  of  the  rarest  generosity.  He  never  intentionally 
injured  a  man  in  his  life.  He  is  a  forgiving  enemy,  only 
implacable  when  basely  wronged.  He  is  the  idol  of  his 
soldiers.  He  talks  to  them,  and  mingles  with  them,  and 
shakes  hands  with  them.  Physically,  he  is  one  of  the 
finest  looking  officers  in  the  army.  A  deep  and  fierce 
black  eye,  heavy  black  moustache,  black  hair,  and  very 
dark  complexion  give  him  a  terrible  look  when  aroused. 
Broad  shoulders,  well  set  on  a  muscular  frame,  give 
him  the  appearance  of  a  man  of  great  power.  He  wears 
usually  a  broad-brimmed  black  felt  hat,  plain  major-gene- 
ral's coat,  and  blue  pantaloons  stuck  in  his  boots.  He 
has  not  the  prim  appearance  of  a  military  dandy;  in  fact, 
he  looks  like  the  citizen-soldier  all  over.  Judging  from  ap- 
pearances, one  would  suppose  that  he  left  home  in  a 
hurry  to  attend  to  some  business  which  he  had  not  quite 
finished.  Mounted,  and  in  battle,  there  are  few  in  the 
army  who  so  nearly  realize  the  idea  of  a  great  warrior. 
To  see  Logan  in  a  fight  is  magnificent." 

General  Logan  is  evidently  to  be  judged  after  the 
Irish,  rather  than  the  English  type.  Such  excitement, 
dash,  and  impetuosity  as  he  exhibits,  would  usually  be 


446  MA  JOE-GENERAL  JOHN  A.    LOGAN. 

joined  in  an  Englishman  with  rashness,  want  of  fore- 
thought and  steadiness ;  but  his  mental  powers,  instead 
of  being  overwhelmed  or  dissipated  by  enthusiasm,  are 
simply  roused  to  intenser,  clearer  action.  Logical  and 
keen-sighted,  his  blows  are  well  planned,  although  they 
fall  wild  and  furious — and  he  is  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  most  impetuous,  yet  safest  of  men.  Rising  from  civil 
life  to  the  command  of  an  army,  he  has  met  the  increased 
responsibilities  and  duties  of  each  upward  step  in  his  pro- 
gress with  complete  satisfaction.  Making  no  blunders, 
he  has  had  no  court-martials,  and  indulging  in  no  petty 
ambition,  avoided  all  quarrels,  and  stands  to-day  one  of 
the  best  types  of  the  citizen  soldier.  Educated  to  public 
speaking,  and  much  of  the  time  before  the  public,  he  yet 
has  made  no  foolish  speeches.  Applauded  everywhere 
for  his  gallantry,  he  nevertheless  has  had  nothing  to  say 
for  himself,  but  always  speaks  of  his  country.  In  an  ad- 
dress made  since  the  close  of  the  war  in  New  York  city, 
he  showed  that  he  was  as  much  of  a  statesman  as  a  sol- 
dier, and  that  it  would  be  well  for  the  country  if  he  could 
be  transferred  from  the  field  to  the  cabinet.  There  is  a 
breadth  and  largeness  in  his  views,  which  one  looks  for  in 
vain  among  the  narrow,  weak,  and  short-sighted  politi- 
cians of  the  day.  Being  only  about  forty  years  of  age, 
he  is  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  has  a  wide  field  of  useful- 
ness before  him.  With  his  fearlessness,  eloquence,  and 
freedom  from  the  trammels  of  party,  he  could  do  much 
toward  shaping  the  policy  of  the  country,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  he  will  devote  himself  wholly  to  this  work 
now  of  such  vital  importance.  "Black  Jack,"  as  his 
soldiers  familiarly  called  him,  from  his  swarthy  com- 
plexion, will  be  remembered  long  after  this  generation 
has  passed  away. 


CHAPTEE  XXI. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  AMBROSE  E.  BURNSIDL. 


HIS  ANCESTRY  AND  NATIVITY — GRADUATES  AT  WEST  POINT — SENT  TO  MEXI- 
CO— FIGHT  WITH  INDIANS — QUARTERMASTER  OF  THE  BOUNDARY  COMMIS- 
SION— RESIGNS — ESTABLISHES  A  MANUFACTORY  OF  THE  BURNSIDE  RIFLE — 
HIS  FAILURE — GOES  W^ST — OBTAINS  EMPLOYMENT  IN  THE  ILLINOIS 
CENTRAL  RAILROAD — COLONEL  OF  A  RHODE  ISLAND  REGIMENT — BATTLB 
OF  BULL  RUN — THE  EXPEDITION  TO  ROANOKE — CAPTURES  NEWBERN — 
RECALLED  TO  AID  M'CLELLAN — HIS  FAILURE  AT  ANTIETAM — SUPERSEDES 
M'CLELLAN — BATTLE  OF  FREDERICKSBURG — RESIGNS  HIS  COMMAND — SENT 
TO  OHIO — HIS  ADMINISTRATION  OF  AFFAIRS — CAPTURES  KNOXVILLE— BE- 
SIEGED BY  LONGSTREET — GOES  EAST — AUTHORIZED  TO  RAISE  FIFTY 
THOUSAND  VOLUNTEERS — THE  RESERVE  OF  GRANT'S  ARMY— HIS  GREAT 
SERVICES  IN  THE  R^HMOND  CAMPAIGN — THE  MINE  AT  PETERSBURG RE- 
TIRES FROM  THE  ARMY — HIS  CHARACTER. 


AMBROSE  EVERETT  BURNSIDE  is  of  Scotch  descent,  his 
grandparents  having  emigrated  from  Scotland  and  settled 
in  South  Carolina,  where  his  father  was  born.  The  latter 
removed  to  Liberty,  Union  county,  Indiana,  where  the 
future  general  saw  the  light  on  the  23d  of  May,  1824.  He 
graduated  at  West  Point  in  1847,  and  was  commissioned 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery  and  ordered  to 
Mexico,  but  the  war  was  virtually  over  before  he  reached 
the  scene  of  action.  He  was  then  stationed  at  Fort 
Adams,  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  but  in  1849  was  ordered 
to  New  Mexico  to  join  Bragg's  battery.  The  country, 


448  MAJOR-GEKERAL   AMBROSE   E.    BURNSIDE. 

however,  proving  impracticable  for  artillery,  the  command 
was  reorganized  as  cavalry,  a  kind  of  force  much  better 
suited  to  operate  against  the  mounted  Indian  tribes,  and 
Burnside  was  put  in  charge  of  a  squadron,  with  which 
he  had  a  sharp  fight  with  the  Apaches,  routing  them  com- 
pletely.    His  gallant  conduct  on  this  occasion  received 
the  highest  praise.     Made  Quarter-master  of  the  Boun- 
dary Commission,  under  John  K.  Bartlett,  he  accompa- 
nied it  in  1850-'51  and  fulfilled  his  duties  with  zeal  and 
ability.     From  the  copper  mines  of  New  Mexico  he  was 
sent  as  the  bearer  of  despatches  to  Washington,  and  in 
the  following  December  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant. 
Having,  while  in  New  Mexico,  invented  a  breech-load- 
ing rifle,  which  still^bears  his  name,  he  resigned  his  com- 
mission for  the  purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  its  manu- 
facture.    An  arrangement  being  made  with  the  Secretary 
of  War  for  a  large  number,  he  erected,  at  a  great  ex- 
pense, buildings  with  which  to  commence  operations — but 
the  Secretary  refusing  to  take  the  guns,  they  were  brought 
to  a  sudden  close.     The  money  for  tlSe  erection  of  the 
buildings  had  been  borrowed  on  the  strength  of  the  con- 
tract with  the  government,  and  this  being  repudiated, 
there  was  no  demand  for  the  rifle  at  all  commensurate 
with  the  outlay  for  its  manufacture,  and  he  saw  himself 
ruined  before  he  had  fairly  got  started.     Giving  up  every- 
thing to  his  creditors,  he  went  to  New  York,  'sold  his 
sword  in  Chatham  street  for  what  he  could  get,  and  started 
West  to  find  employment.     Seeking  out  his  old  comrade, 
McClellan,  who  graduated  in  the  next  class  before  him, 
and  who  was  now  Vice-President  and  Engineer  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  he  obtained  the  position  of 
cashier  in  the  Company  on  a  salary  of  $2,000  a  year. 
But  he  was  soon  promoted  to  Treasurer  with  an  increased 


EXPEDITION   TO   ROANOKE.  449 

salary,  and  transferred  to  New  York,  where  ,he  continued 
to  reside  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  At  the  first 
call  to  arms  he  threw  up  his  lucrative  office,  hastened 
to  Rhode  Island,  and  was  made  Colonel  of  the  First 
Rhode  Island  Volunteers.  Only  four  days  after  the 
President's  proclamation  was  issued,  a  detachment  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  his  regiment,  with  a  light  battery  of 
six  guns,  was  on  its  way  to  Washington. 

In  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  he  commanded  a  brigade 
under  Hunter,  who  executed  the  flank  movement  to  the 
right.  Cool  and  courageous  in  the  fight,  he  was  highly 
complimented  by  McDowell,  and  soon  after  made  Briga- 
dier-General of  Volunteers  and  called  to  Washington  to 
assist  MeClellan  in  reorganizing  the  army.  Before  the 
latter  was  ready  to  move  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
he  planned  an  expedition  into  Roarioke  Sound  arid  placed 
Burnside  at  the  head  of  it.  Being  the  second  expedition 
sent  off  by  our  government,  it  created  the  intensest  ex- 
citement, which  was  increased  by  the  coming  on  of  bad 
weather  soon  after  it  put  to  sea.  It  sailed  from  Hamp- 
ton Roads  in  January,  and  consisted  of  twenty-three  gun- 
boats and  transports,  carrying  15,000  men.  This  impos- 
ing fleet  was  scattered  at  the  very  entrance  to  the  Sound 
— the  "  City  of  New  York  "  foundered  on  the  bar,  the 
gunboat  "  Zouave  "  sunk  at  her  anchorage,  one  transport 
was  blown  out  to  sea,  one  went  down  on  the  bar,  while 
still  another,  loaded  with  a  hundred  and  twenty-three 
horses,  was  wrecked  and  only  seventeen  out  of  the  whole 
number  succeeded  in  swimming  to  shore  through  the  sur£ 
Burnside,  though  filled  with  distress  at  the  catastrophe 
that  had  overtaken  him,  was  not  discouraged.  Trusting 
in  that  God  who  rules  the  storm,  he  went  earnestly  to 
work  to  repair  his  disasters.  Though  swept  by  successive 


450  MAJOR-GENERAL   AMBROSE   E.    BURNSIDE. 

storms,  he,  at  length,  on  the  5th  of  February,  set  sail  for 
Hoanoke  Island.  On  reaching  its  southern  extremity,  on 
which  the  rebels  had  erected  formidable  works,  Golds- 
borough,  the  naval  commander,  prepared  for  battle  and 
the  signal  was  run  up  :  "  This  day  our  country  expects 
every  man  to  do  his  duty."  The  bombardment  was  kept 
up  all  day  till  four  o'clock,  when  the  transports,  loaded 
with  the  troops,  hove  in  sight.  Burnside  now  resolved 
to  effect  a  landing  and  carry  the  works  by  storm.  Six 
thousand  were  safely  got  ashore  that  evening,  and,  without 
blankets  or  tents,  passed  the  long,  wintry  night  in  a 
drenching  storm.  The  next  morning,  in  two  columns, 
under  the  command  of  Generals  Foster  and  Reno,  mov- 
ing on  each  flank  of  the  fort,  the  army  advanced  to  the 
attack,  carrying  it  in  one  gallant  charge.  A  part  of  the 
garrison  fled  along  the  island,  but  were  followed  and  cap- 
tured. Three  thousand  prisoners  and  thirty  guns,  besides 
stores,  ammunition,  etc.,  fell  into  our  hands.  A  portion 
of  the  fleet  advanced  to  Elizabeth  City,  whither  the  rebel 
vessels  had  fled,  and  captured  it  with  all  the  steamers  that 
had  taken  refuge  there. 

Burnside  followed  up  his  victory,  and  soon  had  con- 
trol of  the  entire  coast  down  to  Newbern,  against  which 
he  prepared  next  to  move.  Having  completed  his  prep- 
arations, he  set  sail  the  following  month,  March,  for  the 
Neuse,  and  ascending  it  some  thirty  miles,  came  to  an- 
chor for  the  night.  Flooded  by  the  gentle  moonlight 
that  silvered  the  tranquil  waters  of  the  stream,  over 
which,  in  different  directions,  music  from  the  band  float- 
ed, the  fleet  rode  quietly  at  anchor  till  morning.  The  de- 
barkation then  commenced,  and  the  troops  were  landed 
without  meeting  any  opposition,  and  began  their  march 
toward  Newbern,  while  the  fleet  moved  parallel  with  it, 


CAPTURE    OF   NEWBERX.  451 

shelling  the  woods  in  front.  It  was  a  stormy  day,  yet 
the  troops  marched  fifteen  miles,  and  by  a  little  after  dark 
came  near  the  enemy1  s  works,  which  were  some  three 
miles  below  the  city.  These  were  very  strong,  and  well 
manned,  yet  Burnside  advanced  boldly  against  them — but 
after  a  contest  of  four  hours,  finding  that  his  artillery 
produced  but  little  effect,  he  ordered  a  general  assault. 
With  a  cheer,  the  men  dashed  over  the  ramparts,  sweep- 
ing them  like  an  inundation.  Leaving  their  arms  and 
blankets  strewed  along  the  road,  the  rebels  fled  toward 
Newbern,  burning  the  bridges  behind  them.  Between 
sixty  and  seventy  cannon  were  found  in  the  various 
works,  and  fell  into  our  hands.  It  was  a  great  victory, 
and  at  once  raised  Burnside  to  a  high  place  in  the  popu- 
lar estimation  ;  and  four  days  after  it  he  was  made 
major-general. 

He  now  sent  a  detachment  to  occupy  Beaufort,  and 
invested  Fort  Macon,  which  commands  the  approach  to 
it.  After  immense  labor — dragging  his  guns  by  hand, 
and  placing  them  in  battery  under  the  most  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, and  getting  up  floating  batteries,  he  was  at 
length  able  to  open  fire  with  such  effect  that  it  was  soon 
reduced  to  ruins,  and  forced  to  surrender. 

Burnside  had  now  accomplished  all  that  McClellan 
had  given  him  to  do,  and  he  rested  quietly  until  the 
movements  of  the  latter  against  Richmond  were  fully  de- 
veloped. When  it  was  found  that  a  retreat  from  the 
Chickahominy  to  the  James  River  was  inevitable,  Mc- 
Clellan ordered  him  to  reinforce  him  with  the  greater 
part  of  his  army.  He  at  once  took  his  force  to  Newport 
News,  but  McClellan  soon  after  being  commanded  to 
withdraw  from  the  Peninsula,  he  was  ordered  to  Freder- 
icksburg  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  took  up  his  post 

29 


452  MAJOR-GENERAL  AMBROSE   E.    BURNSIDE. 

tion  there,  where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  Pope's 
campaign. 

The  invasion  of  Maryland  soon  after  by  Lee,  sending 
consternation  into  the  Cabinet,  and  compelling  it  to  place 
McClellan  once  more  at  the  head  of  the  army,  brought 
Burnside  again  into  the  field.  Moving  up  the  Potomac  with 
the  abused,  defeated,  but  still  grand  and  noble  "  Army  of 
the  Potomac,"  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  South  Moun* 
tain  ;  and  in  the  great  decisive  fight  that  followed  at  An- 
tietam,  was  given  by  McClellan  the  command  of  the  left 
wing.  Hooker  had  command  of  the  right,  and  was  or- 
dered to  cross  the  stream  some  distance  above,  and  come 
down  on  the  rebel  left  wing,  and  force  it  so  heavily  that 
Lee  would  be  compelled  to  weaken  his  right,  to  keep  it 
from  being  crushed.  When  this  was  done,  Burnside  was 
to  move  rapidly  across  the  stone  bridge  in  his  front,  as- 
cend the  opposite  heights,  and  by  one  resistless  charge 
turn  this  flank  of  the  rebel  army;  and,  if  possible,  keep 
on  till  he  got  in  the  rear  at  Sharpsburg,  and  thus  secure 
complete  victory.  Hooker  performed  his  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme, but  Burnside  failed  in  the  movement  assigned 
him.  Whether  obstacles  intervened  that  were  not  antici- 
pated, or  whether  he  imagined  those  that  did  not  exist, 
or  whether  he  chose  to  follow  his  own  judgment  as  to  tho 
time  when  he  should  move,  does  not  appear.  At  all 
events,  he  seriously  disappointed  and  offended  McClellan, 
who  attributed  the  failure  to  utterly  overthrow  Lee  to  his 
persistent  and  repeated  disobedience  of  orders. 

During  the  following  autumn,  he  was  put  in  Mo 
Clellan's  place,  as  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto^ 
mac.  He  did  not  wish  to  take  this  position,  declaring 
that  he  was  not  fit  for  it,  and  that  McClellan  should  be 
kept  there.  The  position,  however,  being  forced  upon 


BATTLE   OF   FREDERICKSBURG.  453 

him,  he  felt  that  something  decisive  was  expected  of 
him,  and  he  suddenly  transferred  the  army  from  Warren- 
ton  to  Fredericksburg,  intending  to  get  in  Lee's  rear,  and 
compel  him  to  a  decisive  battle.  But  when  he  got  in  front 
of  the  place,  the  pontoons,  which  he  had  directed  to  be 
forwarded  from  Washington,  had  not  arrived,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  sit  idly  down  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  while  Lee  inarched  down  the  other  side,  and 
occupied  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg.  Burnside, 
his  original  plan  having  entirely  miscarried,  now  resolved 
to  attack  Lee  in  his  entrenchments.  This  was  plainly 
the  most  hazardous  and  desperate  course  that  could  be 
adopted,  hence  he  concluded  it  would  be  the  last  one  Lee 
would  expect  him  to  take.  On  the  contrary,  believing 
that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  cross  either  above  or 
below  him,  and  turn  one  of  his  flanks,  he  would  naturally 
weaken  his  centre  to  protect  them. 

In  carrying  out  his  plans,  therefore,  Burnside  resolved 
to  throw  Franklin  with  the  left  wing  over  the  river,  three 
miles  below  Fredericksburg,  as  though  he  designed  to 
attack  from  that  quarter,  and  then  suddenly  push  his 
army  up  the  heights  in  front  in  one  tremendous  assault. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  lay  his  pontoons  opposite  the 
city,  on  account  of  the  sharpshooters  that  filled  the  houses, 
he  bombarded  it,  playing  on  it  all  day  with  one  hundred 
and  seventy  guns. 

At  length  he  succeeded  in  laying  his  pontoons,  when 
the  army  marched  over  into  the  place.  Franklin  was 
also  across  below,  and  Saturday  morning  the  grand  ad- 
vance, was  made.  The  artillery,  from  the  farther  side, 
opened,  under  the  cover  of  which  the  columns  began  to 
ascend  the  slope  toward  the  rebel  entrenchments.  The 
hostile  batteries  at  once  began  to  play  with  awful  havoc 


454  MAJOR-GENERAL   AMBROSE   E.    BURNSIDE. 

on  our  uncovered  ranks ;  the  heights  trembled  under  the 
shock,  and  lay  wrapped  in  one  vast  shroud  of  white  smoke, 
out  of  which  arose  the  incessant  crash  of  musketry,  as  our 
brave  troops  tried  in  vain  to  breast  the  awful  storm.  It 
could  be  hardly  called  a  battle — it  was  a  frightful  mas- 
sacre, for  our  men  stood  and  were  shot  down  like  bul- 
locks in  the  field.  Many  a  brave  officer  was  thankful 
when  night  came,  and  put  an  end  to  the  useless 
slaughter.  Twenty  thousand  men  had  fallen,  and  yet 
not  a  foothold  of  any  kind  had  been  gained — no  progress 
whatever  made  toward  success.  The  next  day  was  a 
gloomy  Sabbath  for  the  army  as  it  lay  in  Fredericksburg. 
On  Monday  night  Burnside  ordered  a  retreat,  and  the 
defeated  army  once  more  marched  into  its  encampment 
at  Falmouth. 

This  battle  was  severely  criticized  and  loudly  con- 
demned both  in  and  out  of  the  army,  and  caused  an  un- 
pleasant state  of  feeling  between  Burnside  and  some  of 
his  corps  commanders. 

Next  month  (January)  he  made  another  attempt  to 
cross  the  Happahannock  near  the  spot  where  Hooker 
subsequently  effected  a  passage,  but  before  the  movement 
was  complete,  a  heavy  rain-storm  set  in  which  turned 
the  whole  country  into  a  sea  of  mud,  and  it  was  aban- 
doned. Mortified  at  his  failures,  annoyed  by  the  criti- 
cisms on  his  conduct,  and  indignant 'at  the  behaviour  of 
some  of  his  commanders,  Burnside  now  resigned  his  com- 
mand, and  Hooker  was  put  in  his  place. 

He  was  next  put  in  command  of  the  Department  of 
the  Ohio,  and  took  up  his  headquarters  at  Cincinnati, 
where,  in  June,  he  issued  an  order  in  which  he  declared 
his  intention  to  put  a  stop  to  all  open  expressions  of 
hostility  to  the  Government.  He  soon  awakened  a  storm 


LOYAL   TENNESSEANS.  455 

of  opposition,  and  Vallandigham  defying  him,  he  had 
him  arrested  and  tried  by  court-martial.  This  made 
matters  worse,  and  the  Democratic  press  loaded  him  with 
obloquy,  when  he  issued  another  order,  prohibiting  the  cir- 
culation of  The  Chicago  Times  and  The  New  York  World 
in  his  Department.  But  instead  of  allaying  the  excite- 
ment he  increased  it  tenfold,  and  it  was  seriously  feared 
that  there  would  be  a  collision  between  the  citizens  and 
soldiers,  and  another  civil  war  be  inaugurated  right  there 
in  his  midst.  The  President,  alarmed  at  this  state  of 
things,  revoked  the  order  in  respect, to  The  Chicago 
Times. 

In  August,  Burnside  put  Kentucky  under  martial 
lawj  on  the  ground  that  the  State  was  being  invaded  by 
disloyal  persons  for  the  purpose  of  overawing  the  elec- 
tions. 

In  the  meantime  he  set  on  foot  an  expedition  into 
East  Tennessee,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  Knoxville  and 
co-operating  with  Hosecrans  operating  against  ChattaA 
nooga.  Having  organized  it  with  great  success,  he  sud- 
denly moved  on  Knoxville  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month, 
and  entered  it  without  firing  a  shot.  So  skilful  and 
rapid  had  been  his  movements,  that  the  rebels  fled  in  the 
utmost  panic,  while  a  force  two  thousand  strong  at  Cum- 
berland Gap  was  cut  off,  and  surrendered  with  fourteen 
pieces  of  artillery.  This  was  an  unexpected  blow  to  the 
Confederacy,  and  Davis  openly  declared  that  he  would 
have  East  Tennessee  back  again,  cost  what  it  would. 

The  loyal  Tennesseans,  who  had  suffered  for  their 
fidelity  to  the  government,  patiently  waiting  to  see  once 
more  the  old  flag  among  them,  were  overjoyed.  Cooking 
everything  they  had,  they  gave  it  to  the  soldiers  freely 
and  without  price.  "Women  stood  by  the  roadside  with 


456  MAJOR-GENERAL   AMBROSE   E.    BURNSIDE. 

pails  of  water,  and  displayed  Union  flags.  The  wonder 
was  where  all  the  stars  and  stripes  came  from.  Knox- 
ville  was  radiant  with  flags.  At  a  point  on  the  road 
from  Kingston  to  Knoxville,  sixty  women  and  girls  stood 
by  the  roadside  waving  Union  flags,  shouting  'Hurrah 
for  the  Union.'  Old  ladies  rushed  out  of  their  houses 
and  wanted  to  see  General  Burnside  and  shake  hands 
with  him,  and  cried,  'Welcome,  welcome,  General  Burn- 
side,  welcome  to  East  Tennessee! '"  A  public  meeting  was 
called,  and  addressed  by  Burnside,  and  joy  and  gladness 
reigned  on  every,  side. 

He  now  began  to  move  south  to  co-operate  with 
Hosecrans  at  Chattanooga,  but  before  he  reached  him, 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga  took  place,  which  suddenly 
brought  him  to  a  halt,  for  Bragg  deeming  himself 
strong  enough  to  take  care  of  Kosecrans  with  a  part  of 
his  force,  had  despatched  Longstreet  to  reconquer  Knox- 
ville. 

A  part  of  Burnside' s  army  lay  at  Loudon,  on  the  road 
toward  Chattanooga  in  October,  when  the  approach  of 
the  rebel  force  caused  him  to  order  its  evacuation, 
and  the  troops  fell  back  to  Lenoir's,  where  he  joined 
them.  He  then  advanced  back  on  Loudon,  and  gave  the 
enemy  battle,  driving  him  some  two  miles ;  but  hearing 
that  the  main  rebel  force  was  rapidly  coming  up  again, 
retired  on  Lenoir's,  losing  some  of  his  trains,  as  the 
animals  were  needed  to  drag  the  artillery.  Still  falling 
back  on  Knoxville,  he  was  overtaken  at  Campbell's  Sta- 
tion and  forced  to  give  battle.  With  his  inferior  num- 
bers, he  held  the  enemy  in  check  till  nightfall,  when  the 
retreat  was  resumed.  The  rebels  followed  on,  hoping  to 
turn  the  retreat  into  a  rout ;  but  the  troops  were  handled 
with  such  skill  by  their  brigade  commanders,  that  every 


SIEGE   OF    KNOXVILLE.  457 

effort  was  repulsed;  and  after  maintaining  a  running  fight 
for  two  miles,  they  gave  it  up  as  a  hopeless  task. 

The  army  reached  Knoxville  at  daylight  on  the  17th 
of  November,  and  Longstreet,  advancing,  laid  regular  siege 
to  the  place. 

Grant  having  assumed  command  at  Chattanooga, 
became  very  anxious  about  Burnside.  Only  two  days 
before,  he  telegraphed  him,  "I  do  not  know  how  to  im- 
press on  you  the  necessity  of  holding  on  to  East  Ten- 
nessee, in  strong  enough  terms;"  and  again,  "I  can  hardly 
conceive  the  necessity  of  retreating  from  East  Tennessee. 
If  I  did  at  all,  it  would  be  after  losing  most  of  the  army,11 
&c.  Still  Burnside's  condition  was  a  perilous  one,  and 
if  he  retreated  at  all  it  must  be  at  once,  for  if  he  could 
not  be  relieved  in  a  short  time,  his  army  would  be  com- 
pelled to  surrender  from  mere  want  of  provisions.  He 
had  fortified  the  place  strongly  and  might  resist  any 
assault ;  but  the  question  of  food  was  a  vital  one. 

The  brilliant  and  successful  attack  on  Missionary 
Ridge  followed,  and  Grant  despatched  Sherman  to  his 
relief.  In  the  meantime,  Longstreet  had  made  a  despe- 
rate assault  on  Knoxville  with  his  whole  army,  but  was 
beaten  back  with  severe  loss.  Sitting  down  before  it  in 
regular  siege  again,  he  determined  to  starve  out  Burnside ; 
but  alarmed  by  the  near  approach  of  Sherman,  he  broke 
up  his  camp,  and  moving  round  the  place,  took  up  his 
line  of  march  for  Virginia.  Burnside  pushed  on  after 
him,  and  though  partial  engagements  followed,  he  could 
not  force  him  to  a  general  battle. 

Soon  after,  he  turned  over  his  command  to  Foster, 
and  returned  East.  Obtaining  permission  to  increase  his 
old  corps,  the  Ninth,  to  fifty  thousand  men,  he  called  for 
volunteers.  It  was  thought,  at  the  time,  that  some  im- 


458  MAJOR-GENERAL   AMBROSE    E.    BURNSIDE. 

portant  independent  expedition  was  contemplated,  but  it 
turned  out  that  the  corps,  composed  in  part  of  colored 
troops,  was  to  act  as  a  reserve  force  to  Grant,  in  his 
march  from  the  Rapidan  to  Richmond.  It  was  stationed 
at  Manassas  when  the  movement  commenced,  and,  after 
the  first  day's  battle  in  the  Wilderness,  made  a  long,  grand 
march  to  the  help  of  Grant,  and  turned  an  almost  defeat 
into  a  victory.  Burnside  bore  his  part  nobly  in  the 
series  of  battles  and  marches  that  followed,  till  the  army 
sat  down  before  Petersburg.  All  attempts  to  take  this 
place  by  assault  failing,  Burnside  resolved  to  run  a  mine 
under  one  of  the  principal  forts  of  the  enemy,  blow  it  up, 
and  in  the  confusion  that  followed,  rush  in,  arid  thus  get 
control  of  the  hostile  lines.  For  more  than  a  month  the 
work  was  conducted  so  secretly — all  the  earth  excavated 
being  carried  away  in  buckets  and  boxes — that  the  enemy 
could  get  no  clue  to  what  was  going  on.  '  At  length  it 
was  finished,  and  filled  with  barrels  of  gunpowder.  At 
the  appointed  time,  the  assaulting  columns  were  formed — 
one  of  which  was  composed  of  colored  soldiers — and  the 
train  to  the  mine  fired.  A  dull,  heavy  sound  followed, 
issuing  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth ;  the  hill  heaved  a 
moment,  as  if  in  mortal  agony,  and  then  opened  with  an 
earthquake  sound,  and  down  went  fort  and  garrison  into 
the  yawning  gulf.  A  scene  of  indescribable  terror  and 
confusion  followed ;  but,  owing  to  some  delay  in  the  as- 
saulting columns,  the  rebels  had  time  to  recover  from 
their  surprise,  and  closing  in  upon  our  disordered  troops, 
mowed  them  down  without  mercy,  and  took  many  pris- 
oners. Thus,  after  a  month's  ceaseless  labor,  what  was 
meant  to  be  an  engine  of  destruction  to  the  enemy,  was 
made  one  to  ourselves.  Burnside  was  literally  "  hoisted 
by  his  own  petard."  This  disastrous  failure  called  forth 


HIS   CHARACTER.  459 

•  t 

a  storm  of  accusation,  and  an  investigation  took  place, 
which  only  confused  the  matter  still  more.  Burn  side, 
however,  under  the  severe  strictures  made  upon  him, 
asked  to  be  relieved  from  command,  and  retired  to  Rhode 
Island.  This  closed  his  military  services.  In  the  end, 
he  resigned  his  commission,  and  left  the  army. 

Burnside's  career  has  been  a  varied  one,  and  perhaps 
his  successes  and  failures  illustrate  more  fairly  than  it  can 
be  done  in  any  other  way,  the  great  qualities  and  the  de- 
fects of  his  military  character.  The  expeditions  againsfc 
Roanoke  and  Newbern  were  skilfully  planned,  and  ad- 
mirably carried  out,  and  showed  his  great  capacity ;  while 
his  attack  on  Fredericksburg  exhibited  a  disregard  or  ig- 
norance of  some  of  the  most  firmly  established  rules  of 
military  science.  So  his  administration  in  Ohio  revealed 
a  want  of  sagacity  and  true  apprehension  of  his  duties, 
and  the  proper  mode  of  performing  them,  while  his  expe- 
dition into  East  Tennessee  developed  again  that  skilful- 
ness  in  planning,  and  energy  and  promptness  in  execu- 
tion, which  first  gave  him  his  reputation.  He  is  an  able 
commander,  notwithstanding  the  reverses  he  has  met 
with,  and  altogether  a  noble  man,  and  a  true  patriot. 
His  moral  excellence  no  one  questions,  and  in  this  respect 
he  will  always  be  a  model  soldier.  '  Of  fine  personal  pres- 
ence, his  bold,  open  look  reveals  the  truth  and  integrity 
of  his  heart. 


CHAPTER  XXTT. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  PHILIP  HENRY  SHERIDAN 

HI3  NATIVITY  AND  BIBTH — FEOM  DEIVING  A  WATEE-CABT  PASSE8  TO  "WEST 
POINT — HIS  BELLIGEEENT  OnAEAOTEE — NAEROWLY  ESCAPES  BEING  DIS- 
GEACED — HIS  EARLY  SERVICES — PEESONAL  HEROISM — SENT  WEST — HIS  LIFB 
IN  THE  INDIAN  TEREITOEY — QUAETEEMASTEE  UNDER  CUETIS — IS  ARRESTED 
— MADE  CAPTAIN  OF  CAVALRY— GALLANT  FIGHT  NEAE  BOONEVILLE — PEO- 
MOTED — SEEVES  UNDER  BUELL  AND  EOSECEANS — FIGHTS  DESPERATELY  AT 
MUBFEEESBOEO' — AT  CHICKAMAUGA — ASSAULTS  MISSIONARY  EIDGE — PLACED 
OVER  THE  CAVALEY  OF  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC — HIS  RAIDS  ON  BAIL- 
BO  ADS— PUT  IN  COMMAND  OF  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY — BATTLES  WITH  EAELY 
— LAYS  WASTE  THE  COUNTEY — BATTLE  OF  MIDDLETOWN — HIS  GALLANT 
CONDUCT — EAID  TO  LYNCHBURG  AND  RICHMOND — JOINS  GRANT — COMMEN- 
CES THE  LAST  GREAT  MOVEMENT — BATTLE  OF  FIVE  FOBKS — PURSUIT  OP 
LEE — HEAVY  CAPTURES — THE  END — HIS  CHABACTEB. 

SHERIDAN  was  born  in  Perry  County,  Ohio,  and  is  one 
of  the  many  examples  of  men  of  humble  origin  rising  to 
fame  in  a  republic.  His  parents  were  but  plain  Irish  peo- 
ple, and  having  given  him  such  an  education  as  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  State  furnished,  set  him  to  work  at 
an  early  age  to  help  earn  a  livelihood.  Being  of  such 
humble  origin,  little  is  known  of  his  boyhood.  He  seem- 
ed to  be  destined  to  no  higher  occupation  than  that  of 
day-laborer,  for  at  seventeen  we  find  him  driving  a  water- 
cart  through  the  streets  of  Zanesville.  From  the  water- 
cart  he  went  with  one  long  step  to  West  Point  Academy. 
An  older  brother  had  some  local  political  influence;  and 


MAJ.  GEN. PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN. 


CAREER   AT  WEST   POINT.  461 

somehow  or  other,  Phil,  as  he  was  called,  had  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  Congressman  from  that  district,  which  just 
then,  1848,  had  the  privilege  of  sending  a  cadet  to  the 
national  military  school,  and  he  got  him  appointed.  This 
was  a  sudden  transformation  for  the  Irish  lad,  and  his 
ignorance  and  awkward  manners  were  a  great  provocation 
to  the  older  cadets  to  harass  him.  He  graduated  June, 
1853,  and  hence  was  twenty-two  when  he  finished  his 
military  studies.  In  the  same  class  were  McPherson, 
Schofield,  Hill,  and  the  rebel  Hood.  He  had  a  hard 
time  of  it,  however,  during  the  five  years  he  was  com- 
pleting his  military  education.  Being  always  a  quick- 
tempered boy,  and  though  fond  of  a  frolic,  yet  often 
wounding  the  feelings  of  others  by  his  reckless  conduct, 
he  naturally,  at  West  Point,  got  involved  in  perpetual 
quarrels.  He  was  good-natured,  yet  always  ready  for  a 
fight — indeed,  the  bump  of  combativeness  must  have 
been  developed  in  his  head  in  such  a  remarkable  degree 
at  this  time,  that  a  cast  of  it  would  have  been  invaluable 
to  a  phrenologist.  He  was  a  bright  scholar — showing 
the  same  energy  in  his  studies  that  he  did  in  his  combats 
— yet  the  "  black  marks  "  he  received  for  his  pranks,  and 
tricks,  and  fights,  preponderated  so  frightfully  over  the 
good  ones  that  he  obtained  for  his  scholarly  attainments, 
that  he  could  barely  retain  his  place  in  the  Academy.  It 
was  often  a  serious  question  with  the  faculty  wiiether  he 
ought  not  to  be  dismissed  at  once.  Sheridan  was  aware 
of  this,  but  the  danger  of  disgrace  could  not  drive  the 
"  spirit  of  deviltry  "  out  of  him.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
term,  however,  he  aroused  himself,  and,  by  exercising  a 
strong  control  over  his  temper,  reduced  somewhat  the 
number  of  his  monthly  fights,  and  won  the  sympathy  of 
some  of  his  teachers,  who,  seeing  his  struggles,  overlooked 


t 

462  MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   HENRY    SHERIDAN. 

many  of  his  slips,  so  that  when  the  day  came  for  the  class 
to  graduate,  he  was  found  to  lack  just  five  points  of  the 
number  that  would  exclude  him  from  the  honor  of  grad- 
uation. It  was  true,  as  he  has  often  said  since,  that  he 
"got  through  with  the  skin  of  his  teeth."  He  ran  a  nar- 
row chance  of  not  being  a  major-general  in  the  army. 
There  being  no  vacancy,  he  received  the  appointment  of 
only  brevet  second-lieutenant  in  the  First  Infantry,  and 
was  sent  to  Texas.  Here  he  took  his  first  practical  les- 
sons in  war  from  the  Comanche  Indians,  and  was  actively 
engaged  against  them  for  two  years.  He  was  stationed 
at  Fort  Duncan,  around  which  the  Indians  constantly 
prowled.  One  day  Sheridan  was  a  short  distance  from 
the  entrance,  outside,  with  two  soldiers,  when  a  band  of 
Apaches  suddenly  appeared  between  them  and  the  fort. 
The  soldiers  had  their  guns,  but  Sheridan  was  without 
arms,  and  for  a  moment  was  undecided  what  to  do.  But 
just  then  he  saw  the  Apache  chief  dismount  from  his 
mustang,  and  creep  stealthily  toward  the  soldiers  a  little 
distance  off,  to  make  sure  of  his  prey.  In  an  instant  his 
resolution  was  taken;  and  with  a  leap  and  a  bound, 
he  darted  toward  the  mustang,  that  stood  unfastened 
where  the  chief  had  left  him.  The  Indian  was  so  occu- 
pied with  the  soldiers  before  him,  and  Sheridan's  move- 
ments were  so  quick,  that  the  latter  was  astride  of  the 
mustang  before  his  purpose  was  even  detected.  Putting 
the  fiery  little  beast  to  the  top  of  its  speed,  he  sprang  on 
a  wild  gallop  into  the  fort,  shouting  that  the  Indians  were 
upon  them.  Dashing  up  to  his  own  quarters,  he  called 
for  his  pistols  without  dismounting.  Seizing  them,  he 
wheeled  and  rushed  out  of  the  fort  at  the  same  headlong 
speed  with  which  he  had  entered  it.  While  the  alarmed 
garrison  was  mounting  in  hot  haste  to  follow,  he  reached 


KILLS   AN    INDIAN   CHIEF.  463 

the  spot  where  the  soldiers  were  endeavoring  to  hold  the 
savages  at  bay ;  and  riding  boldly  up.  to  the  chief,  shot 
him  dead.  Turning  to  the  other  Indians,  he  was  charg- 
ing down  on  them,  just  as  the  soldiers  arrived ;  when  to- 
gether they  dashed  amid  the  savages  and  rode  them  down 
without  mercy,  killing  nearly  the  whole  of  them.  Soon 
after,  he  was  made  second  lieutenant  in  the  Fourth  Infan- 
try, and  sent  to  join  his  regiment  in  Oregon.  While 
waiting  for  recruits,  however,  he  for  two  months  had 
charge  of  Fort  Wood,  New  York. 

Having  arrived  in  the  new  State,  he  took  command 
of  an  escort  for  Lieut.  Williamson's  exploring  expedition, 
sent  along  the  coast  from  Columbia  River  to  San  Fran- 
cisco for  the  purpose  of  laying  out  a  route  for  a  railroad 
between  the  two  points.  Williamson,  in  his  report,  gave 
him  high  praise.  In  th'e  same  autumn  he  accompanied 
Major  Raines  (afterwards  the  rebel  general)  in  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  Yokima  Indians.  At  the  Cascades  of 
Columbia  he  had  a  fight  with  them,  in  which  he  behaved 
with  such  gallantry  that  he  was  noticed  in  general  orders. 
This  was  in  the  spring  of  '56,  and  he  was,  a  few  weeks 
afterwards,  put  in  command  of  the  Yokima  reservation, 
and  selected  a  site  for  a  military  post  in  the  Seletz  Val- 
ley. His  treatment  of  the  Indians  and  negotiations  with 
them  were  so  prudent  and  judicious,  that  he  settled  the 
difficulties  between  them  and  the  whites,  and  was  compli- 
mented by  Scott  for  his  conduct. 

In  1857  he  built  a  post  at  Yamhill,  Washington  Ter- 
Titory,  and  from  that  time  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  re- 
bellion was  actively  engaged  with  the  Indians  in  the 
mountain  ranges.  These  three  years  of  hardship  arid 
toil,  and  often  of  suffering,  made  his  naturally  compact 
frame  firm  as  iron.  The  perils,  also,  which  he  encounter 


464  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

ed,  and  the  risks  he  ran,  were  a  good  preparatory  school 
for  the  daring  role. he  was  destined  to  play  in  the  coming 
war.  Sometimes  for  days  he  would  toil  through  these 
dreary  mountain  ranges,  with  no  food  but  the  grasshop- 
pers he  caught,  and  once  for  two  weeks  carried  his  entire 
provisions  for  the  whole  time  wrapped  up  in  a  blanket 
strapped  upon  his  shoulders. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  the  Southern  officers 
began  to  resign  in  great  numbers,  which  left  vacancies 
for  those  lower  in  grade  faster  than  a  battle,  and  Sheri- 
dan was  promoted  in  the  winter  of  1861  to  first  lieu- 
tenant, and  ordered  east.  The  regular  army  being  soon 
afterward  increased,  he  was  made  Captain  in  the  13th, 
and  ordered  to  join  it  in  Jefferson  barracks,  Missouri, 
where  it  was  stationed.  Speaking  of  his  promotion  at 
this  time,  he  jokingly  remarked,  that  uhe  was  sixty- 
fourth  captain  on  the  list,  and  with  the  chances  of  war 
thought  he  might  soon  be  a  major/'  He  had  not  yet 
drdamed  of  major-general.  In  fact,  no  one  who  knew 
him  anticipated  any  such  elevation,  for  while  his  energy, 
determination,  and  valor  were  well  known,  he  had  not 
the  reputation  of  possessing  a  head  for  extensive  combi- 
nations, or,  indeed,  for  strategy  of  any  kind.  But  he 
was  entering  on  a  war  in  which  quick,  resolute  action,  and 
indomitable  energy  and  courage,  would  be  needed  as 
much  as  well-laid  plans. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Jefferson,  he  was  made  presi- 
dent of  the  board  appointed  to  audit  the  claims  growing 
out  of  Fremont's  administration.  This  duty  being  ac- 
complished, he  was  made  chief  quartermaster  and  com- 
missary of  the  army,  assembling  for  an  expedition  into 
Southwestern  Missouri,  with  orders  to  report  to  General 
Curtis.  With  his  limited  experience,  he  could,  of  course, 


PLACED   UNDER   ARREST.  465 

have  but  little  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  preparations 
necessary  to  maintain  an  army  even  of  the  size  of  that  Df 
Curtis.  Still,  whatever  he  did  was  thoroughly  doue, 
and  he  established  depots  at  Springfield  and  Holla,  and 
organized  trains  and  transportation ;  but  one  whose  ra- 
tions for  days  had  been  the  grasshoppers  he  caught,  and 
whose  provision  train  for  two  weeks  consisted  of  a  blanket 
rolled  up  on  his  shoulders,  could  not  be  expected  to  fall 
in  with  the  views  entertained  at  the  outset  of  the  war, 
that  every  regiment  should  have  a  train  big  enough  for  a 
whole  corps ;  and  he  remonstrated  against  the  exorbitant 
requisitions  made  on  him.  Of  course  he  was  bitterly  de- 
nounced by  some,  but  he  was  resolute,  and  remorselessly 
cut  down  the  regimental  trains, 

He  remained  at  Springfield  superintending  the  gather- 
ing and  forwarding  of  supplies,  etc.,  while  Curtis  was 
struggling  over  the  broken  country  towards  Pea  Ridge. 
After  the  battle  there,  the  latter  was  in  pressing  need  of 
horses — the  long  marches  and  severe  cold  having  thinned 
off  his  animals  sadly.  He  could  not  advance  without 
them,  and  so  he  ordered  the  quartermaster  to  seize  them 
wherever  they  could  be  found,  and  send  them  on  at  once, 
giving  the  owners  vouchers  for  them.  Sheridan,  who 
had  been  exasperated  by  the  depredations  of  some  of  our 
troops,  and  no  notice  taken  of  his  complaint,  seemed  to 
Look  on  this  order  as  compelling  him  to  do  something 
very  similar  himself,  and  in  a  letter  referring  to  both,  used 
language  more  distinguished  for  strength  of  expression 
than  for  propriety,  saying,  contemptuously,  that  he  was  not 
a  "  jayhawker."  Curtis  at  once  ordered  him  to  be  placed 
under  arrest,  with  directions  to  report  at  St.  Louis. 

In  the  meantime  Halleck  had  been  sent  to  take  com- 
mand in  the  West,  and  in  March,  1862,  he  made  Sheri- 


466  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY  SHERIDAN. 

dan  Chief  Quartermaster  of  the  Western  Department, 
with  the  rank  of  major.  ^^ 

But  being  in  pressing  need  of  good  cavalry  officers, 
he  released  him  from  his  duties  and  made  him  captain  of 
the  Second  Michigan  Cavalry,  and  sent  him  'to  join  the 
expedition  under  Colonel  Elliott,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  destroy  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  at  Booneville, 
thirty  miles  south  of  Corinth.  He  returned  just  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  pursuit  of  the  retreating  army  of  Bragg, 
after  its  evacuation  of  Corinth. 

In  June  he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  cavalry  bri- 
gade, and  ordered  to  take  position  at  Booneville,  twenty 
miles  in  advance  of  the  army,  to  cover  its  front  and  look 
after  the  rebels  hovering  in  that  vicinity.  Arriving  at 
the  place,  he  pitched  his  camp  on  the  edge  of  a  swamp  to 
protect  his  rear,  but  he  had  been  in  it  scarcely  three  days 
before  the  rebel  General  Chalmers,  who  had  been  inform- 
ed of  his  movements,  moved  upon  it  with  a  force  number- 
ing five  or  six  thousand  men.  Sheridan  advanced  to 
meet  him  with  his  single  brigade,  but  seeing  how  fearfully 
he  was  outnumbered,  after  a  little  skirmishing,  fell  back 
to  his  camp.  But  he  saw  clearly  that  he  could  not  re- 
main here  long,  for  the  enemy  in  a  short  time  could  com- 
pletely surround  him,  and  he  resorted  to  his  old  Indian 
tactics  to  extricate  himself.  Detaching  ninety  men,  he 
sent  them  on  a  detour  of  four  miles  to  the  rebel  rear  with 
directions,  at  a  given  time,  to  fall  on  the  enemy,  while  he, 
at  the  same  moment,  would  charge  in  front  Everything, 
of  course,  depended  on  the  movement  being  a  surprise, 
for  the  least  preparation  would  be  sufficient  to  repel  the 
attack  of  that  mere  squad  of  ninety  men.  The  enemy, 
fortunately,  did  not  detect  it,  and  these  ninety  men  armed 
with  carbines,  revolvers,  and  sabres,  arrived  in  the  enemy's 


VICTORY  AT   BOONEVILLE.  467 

rear  without  being  discovered,  and  announced  their  pre- 
sence by  a  simultaneous  volley.  The  next  moment  swing- 
ing their  weapons  to  their  backs,  they  drew  their  sabres, 
and  the  bugles  pealing  the  charge,  they  came  down  with 
the  shout  of  a  host  At  the  same  time  Sheridan  ordered 
his  bugles  to  sound,  and  charging  furiously  in  turn  on  the 
ranks  thrown  suddenly  into  disorder  by  this  unexpected 
attack  in  rear,  routed  the  whole  army,  which  fled  in  wild 
terror  over  the  fields.  Throwing  away  arms,  knapsacks, 
coats  and  everything  that  could  impede  their  flight,  they 
kept  on  for  twenty  miles,  hotly  pursued  by  Sheridan,  who 
was  never  known  to  give  a  fleeing  foe  a  moment's  breath- 
ing space. 

Grant,  in  reporting  this  brilliant  affair  to  the  War 
Department,  recommended  his  promotion,  and  he  was 
made  Brigadier-General,  to  date  from  July  1st,  the  day 
of  the  battle. 

lie  remained  at  this  post  two  months,  when  he  was 
sent  with  other  troops  to  reinforce  Buell,  then  on  his  way 
to  Nashville  and  Louisville  to  repel  the  invasion  of  Bragg. 
Buell  assigned  him  to  the  command  of  the  Third  Division 
of  the  Army  till  he  reached  Louisville,  when  he  was  placed 
over  the  Eleventh  Division. 

When  Rosecrans  superseded  Buell,  and  moved  on 
Murfreesboro,  Sheridan  was  given  the  command  of  one 
of  tlie  divisions  of  McCook's  Corps,  constituting  the 
right  wing  of  the  army,  and  in  the  battle  that  followed 
showed  his  great  qualities  as  a  fighting  general.  The 
overwhelming  attack  of  the  rebels  on  the  extreme  right 
of  McCook's  division,  struck  Johnson  first,  and  rolled  his 
shattered  division  in  wild  tumult  over  the  field.  The 
shouting  victorious  rebels  keeping  on  their  headlong  way, 
next  fell  on  Davis,  who  was  also  caught  unprepared,  and 

30 


468  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

sweeping  him  from  their  path,  then  bore  down  like  an 
inundation  on  the  last  division  of  the  right  wing,  com- 
manded by  Sheridan.  He  was  not  taken  by  surprise, 
and  here  for  the  first  time  the  enemy  was  brought  to  a 
halt.  As  the  dense  battalions  moving  en  echelon  pressed 
upon  his  batteries,  he  mowed  them  down  with  a  terrible 
fire.  Hurled  back,  they  again  advanced  with  increased 
numbers  and  louder  shouts,  but  could  not  start  that  rock- 
fast  division  from  the  spot  where  Sheridan  had  planted  it 
But  at  length  the  assaulting  columns  following  up  the 
broken  divisions,  swarmed  around  both  his  flank  and  rear, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  change  front,  till  he  fought  on 
itwo  sides  of  a  square  at  the  same  time.  The  sudden 
-peril  which  now  confronted  him  and  the  whole  army, 
-aroused  all  the  lion  of  his  nature,  and  forgetful  of  his 
>own  life  he  galloped  amid  the  desolating  ~fire,  calling  on 
his  troops  with  a  torrent  of  oaths  and  appeals  to  stand 
'firm ;  and  they  did  stand,  and  thus  gave  Hosecrans  time 
to  bring  over  the  divisions  from  the  left  to  stay  the  reverse 
tide  of  battle.  "When  a  regiment  reported  out  of  ammu- 
nition, he  ordered  it  to  maintain  its  position  with  the 
bayonet  Never  did  a  general  hold  his  troops  to  a  hope- 
less contest  with  greater  bravery  than  he ;  for  his  division 
of  a  little  over  six  thousand  men  was  literally  butchered 
by  the  overwhelming  masses  of  troops  that  gathered 
seemingly  in  endless  number  on  every  side  of  him.  Had 
he  yielded  at  first,  like  the  two  other  divisions,  that  army 
before  noon  would  have  been  a  herd  of  fugitives  seeking 
safety  in  headlong  flight 

Three  of  his  brigade  commanders  and  other  subordi- 
nate officers  fell  one  after  another,  till  seventy-two  were 
.stretched  on  the  field,  and  nearly  a  third  of  his  division 
gone.  But  though  the  (Mvision  was  being  so  rapidly 


HEROIC    CONDUCT.  469 

annihilated,  it  fought  on  till  it  had  no  more  ammunition 
to  fight  with,  and  then  slowly  and  sullenly  fell  back,  not 
in  panic  or  even  disorder,  but  with  shouldered  arms,  like 
men  not  yet  half  beaten.  Negley,  who  had  been  pushed 
forward  into  the  thicket  to  cover  his  retreat,  said:  "I 
knew  at  once  it  was  hell  in  there  before  I  got  in ;  but  I 
was  convinced  of  it  when  I  saw  Phil.  Sheridan,  with  hat 
in  one  hand  and  sword  in  the  other,  damning  and  swear- 
ing as  if  he  were  the  devil  incarnate,  or  had  a  fresh  in- 
dulgence from  Father  Tracy  every  five  minutes."* 

As  they  emerged  through  those  dark  cedars,  Sheridan 
rode  up  to  Rosecrans,  and  pointing  back  to  his  mutilated 
division,  said:  "Here  they  are,  General,  all  that  is  left 
of  us ;  our  cartridge-boxes  contain  nothing,  and  our  guns 
are  empty."  With  compact  ranks  he  fell  steadily  back 
for  a  mile  and  halted,  when,  ammunition  arriving,  he 
wheeled,  and  again  presented  the  same  iron  front  to  the 
foe.  He  said  that  although  his  single  division  had  to 
resist  alone  the  whole  rebel  attack,  "had  iny  ammunition 
held  out,  I  would  not  have  fallen  back,  although  such 
were  my  orders  if  hard  pressed"  Eosecrans,  feeling  that 
his  reputation  had  been  saved  by  Sheridan's  firmness,  said 
in  his  report:  "General  Sheridan  is  a  model  officer,  and 
possesses  in  an  eminent  degree  qualities  that  promise  for 
him  a  brilliant  and  useful  career  in  the  profession  of 
arms.  *  *  *  The  constancy  and  steadfastness  of 
his  troops  enabled  the  reserve  to  reach  the  right  of  our 
army  in  time  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle,  and  changed  a 
threatened  rout  into  a  victory.  He  has  fairly  won  pro- 
motion."  This  was  high  praise  and  worthily  bestowed. 
The  public  dazzled  by  the  victory,  did  not  fully  appreciate 
Sheridan's  sublime  action  on  this  terrible  day;  but  the 
*  Tracy  was  Rosecrans'  Eoman  Catholic  chaplain. 


470  MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

Government  did,  and  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  Major 
General  of  Volunteers. 

In  the  next  summer,  when  Kosecrans  advanced  on 
Chattanooga,  Sheridan  was  assigned  the  duty  of  driving 
the  rebels  out  of  Liberty  Gap.  Taking  a  conspicuous 
part  in  all  the  movements  before  that  place,  he  again  at 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga  suffered  from  the  misfortunes 
and  failures  of  others.  When  the  army  was  cut  in  two, 
and  the  right  and  centre  overthrown,  he  was  necessarily 
borne  back  with  the  excited  and  maddened  throng.  It 
was  useless  for  him  alone  to  attempt  to  make  a  stand,  but 
he  did,  and  it  was  pitiful  to  see  so  brave  a  heart  clutch 
with  such  a  despairing  effort  at  victory.  He  rode  amid 
his  disordered  ranks,  the  impersonation  of  high  daring, 
and  appealed  and  swore  by  turns ;  but  he  might  as  well 
have  attempted  to  arrest  a  whirlwind,  or  rt>ll  back  the 
tide  of  the  ocean,  and  he  was  swept  away  with  the  head- 
long mass  that  crowded  and  cursed  and  struggled  in  the 
choked-up  road  leading  to  Chattanooga. 

When  Grant  finally  took  command,  and  assaulted  the 
enemy  in  their  strong  position  on  Missionary  Ridge, 
Sheridan  was  foremost  in  the  fight.  He  had  felt  keenly 
the  breaking  of  his  division  at  Chickamauga,  and,  riding 
in  the  advance,  he  called  in  thunder  tones  to  his  men, 
"  Show  the  Fourth  Corps  that  the  men  of  the  old  Twen- 
tieth are  still  alive  and  can  fight.  Remember  Chicka- 
mauga!" Ever  in  the  front,  and  always  coolest  in  the 
moment  of  the  greatest  peril,  he  took  a  flask  from  one  of 
his  aids,  filled  the  pewter  cup,  and  raising  his  cap  to  the 
rebel  battery,  mockingly  said,  "  How  are  you,  Mr. 
Bragg  ?  "  never  checking  for  a  moment  the  speed  of  his 
advance.  Six  guns  responded  to  the  defiant  act,  and  the 
cup  was  shivered  by  a  bullet  while  in  the  act  of  being 


CAVALRY   RAIDS.  471 

pressed  to  his  lips.  Cooljy  remarking,  "  That's un- 
generous," he  spurred  forward.  On  the  summit  his  horse 
was  shot  under  him,  and  no  other  being  at  hand,  he  sprang 
on  one  of  the  captured  guns  and  swinging  his  sword  over 
his  head,  poured  a  torrent  of  oaths  and  invectives  after 
the  flying  rebels  that  he  could  not  pursue. 

After  the  pursuit  was  over  he  was  sent  with  Sherman 
on  the  long  and  weary  inarch  to  raise  the  siege  of  Knoxville 
and  relieve  Burnside,  and  then  returned  to  Chattanooga 
and  went  into  winter  quarters. 

When  Grant  was  made  Lieutenant-General,  Sheridan 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  at  once  entered  on  its  organization 
and  training  for  active  service.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  campaign  in  May,  1864,  he  protected  the  flanks  of 
Meade's  army,  and  with  a  select  body  of  troops  started 
on  an  expedition  to  the  rear  of  Lee  to  cut  off  his  com- 
munications and  supplies,  in  the  conduct  of  which  he 
showed  that,  as  a  cavalry  officer,  he  had  no  superior  in 
the  army. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  he  went  on  another  expedition, 
crossing  the  country  from  the  Rappahannock  to  the  White 
House,  and  then  joined  Grant's  army  south  of  the  James 
River.  For  the  next  thirty  days  he  was  employed  in 
cutting  the  railroad,  to  the  south  and  southwest  of  Peters- 
burg. The  skill,  daring,  energy  and  success  of  all  his 
movements  showed  him  to  be  fitted  for  a  more  responsible 
position. 

Ewell  and  Early,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  Grant's 
forces  from  Richmond,  were  now  sent  with  a  heavy  force 
into  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  crossing  the  Potomac, 
seized  Hagerstown  and  Fredericksburg,  burnt  Chambers- 
burg,  threatened  Washington  and  Baltimore,  and  then 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

re-crossed  into  Virginia  loaded  with  plunder.  Grant,  de- 
termined that  nothing  should  loosen  his  hold  on  the  rebel 
capital,  immediately  consolidated  the  four  military  de- 
partments of  the  Susquehanna,  Washington,  Mononga- 
hela  and  West  Virginia,  into  one,  and  put  Sheridan 
over  it.  He  was  now,  for  the  first  time,  placed  in  an  in- 
dependent command,  where  he  could  have  a  fair  field  for 
his  great  military  abilities.  To  keep  Early  from  falling 
back  on  Richmond,  he  hung  threateningly  along  his  front 
— now  advancing,  and  when  threatened  in  turn  falling 
back  on  Harper's  Ferry,  for  his  forces  were  not  yet  all  up 
.and  he  did  not  wish  to  risk  a  battle  till  they  were.  See- 
ing his  hesitation,  Early  concluded  that  he  was  afraid  of 
him,  and,  therefore,  determined  boldly  to  cross  over  again 
into  Maryland.  Sheridan,  watching  his  opportunity,  by 
a  skillful  manoeuvre,  succeeded,  after  a  sharp  fight,  in  get- 
ting between  the  rebel  army  and  their  proper  line  of  re- 
treat, through  the  gaps  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  Richmond. 
Having  obtained  this  advantage,  he  determined  to  strike 
quick  and  hard,  and  force  it  back  toward  the  southwest. 
Carrying  out  his  purpose,  he,  three  days  after,  suddenly 
fell  on  Early,  and  after  a  stubborn  fight  of  several  hours, 
routed  him  with  great  slaughter  and  sent  him  "  whirling 
through  Winchester."  Pressing  up  his  advantage,  he 
hung  relentlessly  on  the  rebel  rear  for  thirty  miles,  until 
they  finally  rallied  behind  their  intrenchments  at  Fisher's 
Hill.  Promptly  bringing  up  his  weary  troops  in  front  of 
this  strong  position  he  prepared  to  finish  what  he  had  so 
successfully  begun.  The  Eighth  Corps  was  .sent  around 
the  left  of  the  enemy  to  attack  in  rear,  the  Nineteenth,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  moved  out  upon  the  right  flank,  while 
the  Sixth  made  a  feint  attack  on  the  centre.  The  three 
Corps  closing  simultaneously  on  the  rebels  threw  them 


MADE   BRIGADIER-GENERAL.  473 

into  utter  confusion,  and  breaking  at  the  centre,  they  let 
the  right  corps  in  between,  which  dashed  the  two  wings 
from  its  sides  as  a  strong  ship  the  waves.  Overwhelmed 
and  disorganized,  they  broke  in  utter  rout,  followed  fast 
by  our  shouting,,  victorious  troops.  In  the  meantime, 
Averill's  Cavalry  had  been  sent  on  to  the  base  of  the 
South  Mountain,  to  fall  on  them  as  they  fled.  This  gal- 
lant, energetic  commander  took  up  the  pursuit,  and  con- 
tinued it  till  the  rebels  were  driven  beyond  Port  Republic, 
and,  broken  into  irrecoverable  fragments,  took  refuge  in 
the  Mountains,  having  iri  six  days  lost  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand men,  besides  a  great  number  of  guns,  ammunition, 
stores,  &c.  It  was  a  brilliant  victory,  and  filled  the  land 
with  praises  of  Sheridan.  He  was  at  once  made  Brigadier- 
General  in  the  regular  army,  in  the  place  of  McPherson, 
who  was  killed  at  Atlanta. 

Sheridan  now  laid  waste  the  Valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  burning  as  he  said,  a  "  thousand  barns,  to  prevent 
the  hay  and  forage  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy."  This  is  the  only  stain  on  his  fair  fame.  The 
destruction  of  private  property  is  a  violation  of  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare,  of  which  Grant,  Sherman  and  Thom- 
as would  never  have  been  guilty.  His  excuse  was, 
that  if  he  had  not  destroyed  it,  it  would  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  helped  to  sustain  him.  This 
was  doubtless  true,  but  there  are  some  things  to  be  done 
and  to  be  left  undone  without  regard  to  consequences. 
The  rules  of  civilized  warfare  are  not  based  on  logic  but 
humanity.  The  old  barbarians  used  the  same  logic  in 
carrying  on  their  wars,  and  killed  the  children  because 
they  said  if  they  did  not,  they  would  grow  up  to  be  men 
and  heroes  to  fight  them ;  and  they  killed  the  mothers 
because  if  left  alive  they  would  beget  warriors.  So  far 


474  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP  HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

as  the  logic  of  the  thing  is  concerned,  the  barbarians  have 
the  best  of  it,  for  they  carried  it  out  to  its  legitimate  con- 
clusions. The  question  is  not  one  for  argument — it  is 
decided  by  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare,  which  a  man  is, 
if  possible,  more  bound  to  obey  than  he  is  written 
laws. 

On  his  return  from  the  raid  he  was  attacked  in  the 
rear  by  the  rebel  General  Rosser,  with  a  large  body  of 
cavalry,  when  facing  about  he  finished  him  with  one 
tremendous  blow,  keeping  him  "  on  the  jump,"  for  twenty- 
six  miles. 

In  the  meantime,  Early  had  been  reinforced,  and 
burning  for  revenge,  advanced  stealthily  against  Sheridan, 
and  attacked  him  at  Cedar  Creek.  The  latter,  aware  of 
his  movements,  after  amusing  him  awhile  with  a  sharp 
artillery  fire,  suddenly  fell  upon  him  in  one  of  his  im- 
petuous onsets,  and  sent  him  again  in  headlong  rout  up 
the  Valley. 

This  was  on  the  12th  of  October,  and  Sheridan  think- 
ing the  enemy  was  too  severely  punished  to  molest  him 
for  the  present,  left  the  army  on  a  short  visit  to  Wash- 
ington. 

THE   VICTORY  AT   MIDDLETOWN. 

The  army  at  this  time  was  posted  on  three  moderate 
hills,  extending  for  three  miles  across  the  country,  each 
one  a  little  back  of  the  other. 

The  first  and  foremost  one,  some  four  or  five  miles 
north  of  Fisher's  Hill,  was  held  by  the  army  of  West 
Virginia  under  Crook ;  the  second,  half  a  mile  to  the 
rear  of  jt,  by  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  under  Emory,  the 
turnpike  running  between  them.  The  third  and  last, 


A   TERRIBLE    SURPRISE.  475 

.  • 

still  farther  back,  was  occupied  by  the  Sixth  Corps,  with 
Torbert's  superb  cavalry  covering  its  right. 

Early,  who  had  the  tenacity  of  Sheridan,  having  been 
reinforced  by  twelve  thousand  men,  and  hearing  that  the 
latter  was  in  Washington,  determined  on  a  bold  and 
hazardous  night  attack  on  this  position.  He  knew  our 
position  was  impregnable  in  front,  and  a  flank  attack 
gave  him  the  only  chance  of  success ;  so  having  matured 
his  plans,  he  set  out  at  midnight  in  five  columns — march- 
ing toward  the  left  where  Crook  was  posted,  while  his 
light  artillery  and  cavalry  were  sent  to  the  right  to  make 
a  feint  against  the  Sixth  Corps.  There  was  a  dense  fog 
at  the  time,  wrapping  everything  in  impenetrable  dark- 
ness; but  Early  knew  the  ground  thoroughly,  and  with 
trusty  guides  was  in  no  danger  of  being  misled.  He 
ordered  all  the  men  to  leave  their  canteens  behind,  lest 
their  clanking  against  the  shanks  of  the  bayonets  should 
be  heard  by  our  pickets  and  give  the  alarm.  His  march 
was  to  be  noiseless,  and  he  directed  that  all  'the  orders 
should  be  given  in  a  low  tone,  for  although  the  movement 
must  be  made  with  an  army  of  between  twenty  and 
thirty  thousand  men,  it  must  be  with  the  stealthiness  of 
an  Indian  on  his  war-path ;  discovery  would  be  fatal,  and 
he  knew  it.  The  whole  enterprise  was  hazardous  beyond 
expression.  He,  however,  moved  off  toward  our  left, 
unperceived,  though  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
some  of  the  pickets  on  duty  reported  that  they  heard  a 
heavy  muffled  tramp  and  rustling  through  the  under- 
brush, as  though  a  multitude  was  moving  along  the  front 
This  information  caused  some  precautions  to  be  taken, 
but  no  reconnoissance  was  sent  out.  The  truth  is,  a  seri- 
ous attack  by  Early  was  not  dreamed  of,  and  the  main 
army  slumbered  on  wholly  unsuspicious  of  danger. 


476  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

All  this  time  the  steady  columns  were  sweeping  on 
through  the  gloom,  now  pushing  through  the  dripping 
trees,  and  now  fording  a  stream — skirting  our  position  for 
miles,  till  at  length,  an  hour  before  daybreak,  the  rebel 
troops,  shivering  with  cold,  stood  within  six  hundred 
yards  of  our  camps.  Just  as  the  dim  light  began  to 
brighten  up  the  fog  to  the  eastward,  our  bugles  rang  out 
and  the  drums  beat,  for  Crook  had  ordered  the  day 
before,  a  reconnoissance  to  be  sent  out  at  daylight  toward 
the  supposed  distant  camp  of  the  enemy.  The  next 
moment  there  arose  a  yell  from  ten  thousand  throats, 
rending  the  thick  mist  like  lightning,  followed  by  a  deaf- 
ening crash  of  musketry.  It  broke  on  that  camp  like  a 
sudden  thunder-clap  at  noonday  from  a  cloudless  sky. 
In  an  instant  all  was  commotion ;  the  roll  of  drums,  fierce 
bugle  calls,  and  the  shouts  of  officers  were  heard  on  every 
side ;  but  before  any  line  of  battle  could  be  formed  the 
shouting,  yelling  foe  was  upon  them.  Up  and  'over  the 
hill  they  went  in  one  wild  torrent — a  bloody  struggle 
of  five  minutes  at  the  breastworks,  a  brief  massacre,  and 
then  the  gallant  army  of  Western  Virginia  became  a  herd 
of  fugitives,  rolling  tumultuously  back  toward  the  hill  on 
which  the  Nineteenth  Corps  lay,  a  half  mile  in  the  rear. 
A  few  regiments  wheeled  and  tried  to  make  a  stand,  but 
you  might  as  well  have  attempted  to  stop  a  bursting  bil- 
low with  a  wand.  The  Nineteenth  Corps  made  a  longer 
struggle,  and  in  some  instances  the  combatants  became 
commingled  and  fought  with  clubbed  muskets ;  but  the 
rebels  sweeping  down  along  the  pike,  got  in  its  rear,  and 
it  too  was  hurled  back  to  help  swell  the  wreck.  The 
only  hope  now  was  with  the  "bloody  Sixth,"  which  had 
had  time  to  take  position  and  confront  the  victorious 
enemy.  A  new  line  was  formed,  and  the  enemy  met  so 


FLYING  TO  THE   RESCUE.  477 

firmly,  that  lie  halted  in  his  furious,  overwhelming  onset, 
and  began  to  advance  cautiously,  and  feel  his  way  with 
artillery.  Besides,  many  of  the  troops  were  plundering 
the  camps,  and  could  not  be  urged  forward.  Had  Wright 
known  this,  he  possibly  might  here  have  fought  a  suc- 
cessful battle ;  but  the  turnpike  was  in  possession  of  the 
enemy,  which  so  threatened  his  communications,  that  the 
whole  army  was  ordered  to  fall  back  toward  Win- 
chester. 

Five  terrible  hours  had  now  passed,  and  the  prospect 
looked  black  enough  for  that  noble  army.  But  at  this 
critical  -moment,  Sheridan  was  seen  tearing  along  the 
road  at  headlong  speed — his  mettled  horse  flecked  with 
foam,  and  he  swinging  his  cap  over  his  head,  and  shout- 
ing to  the  bewildered  fugitives  that  crowded  the  high- 
way, "  Face  the  other  way,  boys.  We  are  going  back  to 
our  camps.  We  are  going  to  lick  them  out  of  their 
boots."  He  had  slept  at  Winchester  that  night,  on  his 
return  from  Washington,  and  roused  by  the  heavy  firing 
that  told  him  the  army  was  in  a  fierce  battle  without 
its  leader,  had  leaped  to  the  saddle,  and  spurred  madly 
forward.  The  wounded  along  the  roadside  raised  a  feeble 
shout  at  the  sight — the  fugitives  wheeled  back  at  the  call, 
and  moved  with  kindling  eyes  to^the  front.  As  soon  as 
he  reached  the  army,  he  ordered  it  to  face  about,  form 
line,  and  advance  to  the  position  it  had  just  left.  Then 
for  two  hours  he  rode  backwards  and  forwards  along  the 
front,  now  looking  over  the  ground,  and  now  encourag- 
ing the  men.  u  Boys,"  said  he,  ^  if  I  had  been  here  this 
never  should  have  happened.  I  tell  you  it  never  should 
have  happened.  And  now  we  are  going  back  to  our 
camps.  We  are  going  to  get  a  twist  on  them.  We  are 
going  to  lick  them  out  of  their  boots."  Shouts  and  cheers 


478  MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

followed  him,  and  a  new  life  was  infused  into  the  army. 
Discouragement  and  fear  were  now  gone,  and  though 
they  had  eaten  nothing  since  the  night  before,  the  brave 
fellows  were  ready  for  another  fight.  At  length,  the  rebel 
army  was  seen  moving  steadily  along  the  brilliant  autum- 
nal woods,  advancing  against  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and 
Sheridan  sent  word  to  Emory  to  be  ready  for  it.  It 
came  confidently  on  till  within  close  range,  and  then  the 
line  opened  with  a  swift,  deadly  volley.  A  crash  and 
roar,  and  then  a  lull — and  when  the  smoke  slowly  lifted  in 
the  clear  air,  no  enemy  was  in  sight.  Emory  imme- 
diately despatched  an  aid  to  Sheridan  with  the  news  that 
the  enemy  was  repulsed.  "  That's  good,  that's  good/' 
laughed  Sheridan.  "  Thank  God  for  that.  Now,  then, 
tell  General  Emory  if  they  attack  him  again  to  go  after 
them,  and  follow  them  up,  and  to  sock  it  into  them,  and 
to  give  them  the  devil."  And  with  almost  every  word, 
bringing  his  right  hand  down  into  the  palm  of  his  left 
with  a  sharp  blow,  he  continued,  "  We'll  get  the  tightest 
twist  on  them  yet  you  ever  saw — we'll  have  all  those 
camps  and  cannon  back  again."  Having  completed  his 
preparations,  he,  at  half-past  three,  gave  the  order  for  the 
whole  line  to  advance.  The  bugles  rang  out,  the  drums 
rolled,  and  the  line  rose  from  where  it  had  been  lying, 
and,  not  with  shouts  and  yells,  but  solemnly  and  firmly, 
moved  through  the  woods  in  their  front,  and  out  into  the 
open  fields  beyond.  The  rebels  saw  the  solid  advance, 
and  sent  shot  and  shell  crashing  through  the  ranks — "  the 
next  moment  came  a  prolonged  roar  of  musketry,  mingled 
with  the  long-drawn  yell  of  our  charge ;  then  the  artillery 
ceased — the  musketry  died  into  spattering  bursts,  and 
over  all  the  yell  triumphant.  Everything  on  the  first 
line,  the  stone  walls,  the  advanced  crest,  the  tangled 


A    GREAT   VICTORY.  479 

wood,  the  half-finished  breastworks  had  been  carried.* 
The  lull  in  the  tempest,  however,  was  short — the  rebels 
opened  with  their  artillery  from  a  new  position,  while 
Sheridan  dashed  excitedly  along  the  front,  and  swiftly 
reorganized  the  line  for  a  second  charge.  He  trusted  this 
work  to  no  subordinate ;  he  gave  all  his  orders  to  corps, 
division,  and  brigade  commanders  in  person.  His  face 
wore  a  confident  smile,  while  in  his  short,  energetic  sen- 
tences he  told  the  soldiers  that  they  had  them  now — that 
the  rebels  would  be  "  licked  out  of  their  boots."  Soon, 
everything  being  ready,  he  ordered  the  second  charge. 
Through  thickets,  over  ridges  and  stone  walls,  shouting 
and  yelling,  the  enthusiastic  soldiers  went  like  troops 
just  brought  into  action,  instead  of  those  which,  without 
a  morsel  of  food,  had  fought  and  marched  since  daylight 
in  the  morning.  As  one  of  Sheridan's  staff  officers  fol- 
lowed up  the  first  division,  and  watched  the  yelling,  run- 
ning, panting  soldiers  not  firing  a  shot,  but  simply  dash- 
ing along  with  parched,  open  mouths,  he  exclaimed  : 
"Those  men  are  doing  all  that  flesh  and  blood  can." 
This  second  line  was  also  carried  with  a  rush,  and  the 
enemy  forced  down  into  the  Middletown  Meadows,  where 
the  cavalry  could  act.  The  bugles  now  rang  out,  and  the 
just  before  victorious,  but  now  overwhelmed  and  as- 
tonished enemy  fled  in  wild  confusion  up  the  Valley. 
Through  and  beyond  our  camps  which  they  had  swept 
like  a  whirlwind  in  the  morning,  they  went  pell-mell,  leav- 
ing behind  the  artillery  they  had  captured,  and  most  of 
their  own — and  scattering  small  arms,  clothing,  and  every- 
thing that  impeded  their  flight  in  the  way.  The  tired  in- 
fantry soon  gave  up  the  pursuit,  but  the  cavalry  kept  on, 
driving  them  through  Strasburg,  past  Fisher's  Hill,  and 
next  morning  on  to  Woodstock,  sixteen  miles  distant, 


480  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP  HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

in  utter  confusion.  Forty-nine  cannon,  fifty  wagons, 
sixty-five  ambulances,  sixteen  hundred  small  arms,  and 
fifteen  hundred  prisoners  were  the  fruits  of  this  splendid 
victory.  Our  loss  was  also  heavy,  being  nearly  four 
thousand,  for  the  rebels  succeeded  in  carrying  off  over 
two  thousand  prisoners. 

The  field  over  which  this  sanguinary,  tumultuous 
fight  raged  presented  a  sickening  spectacle — the  dead  and 
wounded  were  everywhere,  strewed  among  dismounted 
guns,  wrecked  caissons,  shivered  and  bent  muskets,  and 
horses  that  seemed  innumerable,  so  thickly  was  the  earth 
dotted  with  them. 

The  autumn  twilight  was  deepening  when  our  army 
reached  their  old  camps,  into  which  they  filed,  in  the 
same  position  they  had  occupied  at  daybreak  on  that  event* 
fill  morning ;  but  with  sadly  diminished  numbers.  Here, 
tired  out,  they  lay  down  among  the  dead  and  wounded 
to  rest.  "  They  had  lost  everything  but  what  they  bore 
on  their  backs  or  in  their  hands;  their  shelter-tents,  knap- 
sacks, canteens,  and  haversacks  had  been  plundered  by 
the  rebels,  and  they  slept  that  night  as  they  had  fought 
that  day,  without  food."  The  officers  at  headquarters 
were  as  supperless  as  the  soldiers,  for  all  their  baggage 
and  rations  had  been  sent  on  to  Winchester  during  the 
day.  Still,  gaiety  reigned  there  ;  for  although  the  earth 
around  them  was  cumbered  with  the  dead  and  wounded, 
their  great  and  unexpected  victory  awakened  the  wild- 
est enthusiasm,  which  was  kept  at  fever  height  by 
couriers  dashing  in  every  few  minutes  from  the  pursuing 
cavalry,  announcing  the  capture  of  guns,  flags,  and 
prisoners. 

This  battle  exhibits  all  the  strong  points  in  Sheridan's 
character,  and  is  altogether  one  of  the  most  remarkable 


GREAT    POWER   OVER   TROOPS.  481 

which  was  fought  during  the  war.  Marengo  was  lost  to 
Napoleon,  but  won  again  by  the  arrival  of  Desaix  with 
his  column.  Shiloh  was  lost  to  Grant,  but  won  again  by 
the  timely  arrival  of  Buell  with  his  trained  battalions ;  but 
this  battle,  after  it  was  lost  was  won  by  the  arrival  of 
Sheridan  alone,  with  no  reinforcements.  By  the  power 
of  his  single  presence  and  voice,  he  called  back  the  fugi- 
tives, whom  the  drawn  swords  of  the  cavalry  could  not 
arrest,  reorganized  the  shattered  army,  dissipated  despair, 
and  breathed  in  its  place  enthusiasm  and  confidence,  so 
that  though  greatly  weakened  in  men  and  by  the  loss  of 
fifty  pieces  of  artillery,  he  was  able  not  merely  to  make 
a  successful  stand,  but  to  resume  a  furious  offensive.  To 
rally  the  broken  army  on  that  disastrous  field,  to  breathe 
into  it,  half-starved  and  exhausted  as  it  was,  a  spirit  that 
enabled  it  to  assault  its  victorious  enemy  behind  his  de- 
fences, and  drive  him  in  utter  rout,  showed  the  very 
highest  qualities  of  a  military  commander,  and  fully  justi- 
fied the  high  praise  of  the  lieutenant-general,  who  said : 
"  It  stamps  Sheridan  what  I  have  always  thought  him, 
one  of  the  ablest  of  generals."  Soon  after  he  was  made 
major-general  in  the  regular  army,  to  fill  the  place  made 
vacant  by  the  resignation  of  General  McClellan. 

Early  was  now  permanently  disabled,  and  Davis,  not 
being  able  to  send  him  any  more  reinforcements,  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah. 

In  six  weeks  the  Sixth  Corps  returned  to  the  army 
before  Richmond,  while  Sheridan  began  to  organize  a 
cavalry  force  for  his  great  contemplated  raid  along  the 
James  River,  between  Lynchburg  and  Richmond.  Hav- 
ing got  everything  ready,  he  started  late  in  February, 
(1865),  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  splendidly  mounted,  and 
pushing  up  the  valley,  seized  Staunton,  and  near  Waynes- 


482  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

boro  routed  the  remnant  of  Early 's  army,  capturing 
thirteen  hundred  prisoners,  and  very  nearly  the  general 
himself  who  had  to  take  to  the  woods"  to  escape.  Thence 
marching  southeasterly,  be  began  the  destruction  of  the 
Lynchburg  and  Virginia  Central  Railroad,  and  the  James 
River  Canal.  The  former  for  thirty  miles,  and  the  latter 
for  more  than  half  that  distance  were  completely  broken 
up.  These  were  the  main  channels  of  supply  to  the 
rebel  army,  and  hence  their  destruction  was  a  source  of 
great  uneasiness  and  suffering.  Could  he  have  crossed 
the  river  and  destroyed  the  railroads  on  the  other  side, 
and  swept  round  to  the  south  of  Petersburg  and  joined 
Grant's  army  there,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  Lee  could  have 
maintained,  himself  in  Richmond.  But  the  enemy  de- 
stroyed the  bridges,  so  that  he  had  to  keep  down  the 
north  bank  of  the  stream  toward  the  rebel  capital.  The 
announcement  of  his  approach  caused  the  wildest  con-v 
sternation,  and  a  strong  column  was  sent  out  to  arrest  his 
movements.  But  bearing  off  to  the  left,  Sheridan  eluded 
his  adversary,  and  arrived  safely  at  the  White  House. 
After  resting  here  awhile,  he,  on  the  27th  of  March,  safely 
crossed  the  James  River  on  a  pontoon  bridge,  and  joined 
Grant's  army.  Two  days  after,  with  a  force  of  9,000 
men,  he  moved  off  toward  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  taking 
the  first  step  in  that  great  movement  which  was  to  give 
us  Petersburg,  Richmond,  and  Lee's  entire  army.  The 
orders  of  Grant  at  first  were  to  make  a  raid  on  the  South- 
side  railroad,  and  then  join  Sherman,  or  act  as  circum- 
stances might  direct.  He  now  changed  his  mind,  and 
directed  him  to  co-operate  with  the  movements  of  his 
army.  The  rain  falling  in  torrents  made  the  roads  almost 
impassable ;  yet  Sheridan  pushed  on,  and  the  next  day 
encountered  the  enemy  near.  Five  Forks ;  but  after  a  stub- 


BATTLE   OF   FIFE   FORKS,  483 

born  fight,  was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  Dinwiddie 
Court  House,  where  he  threw  up  a  breast- work  of  rails. 
Here  at  midnight  the  Fifth  Corps  joined  him,  and 
feeling  strong  enough  to  resume  the  offensive,  he  at  day- 
break advanced,  and  drove  the  enemy  back  to  their  en- 
trenchments at  Five  Forks.  He  now  ordered  a  com- 
bined attack  on  the  position  with  both  infantry  and 
cavalry— the  former  to  swing  round  upon  the  rebel  flank, 
their  vollies  of  musketry  to  be  the  signal  for  the  cavalry 
to  charge  on  the  right.  In  speaking  of  this  brilliant 
movement,  he  says  :  "The  Fifth  Corps,  on  reaching  the 
White  Oak  road,  made  a  left  wheel,  and  burst  on  the 
enemy's  left  flank  and  rear  like  a  tornado,  and  pushed 
rapidly  on,  orders  having  been  given  that  if  the  enemy 
was  routed,  there  should  be  no  halt  to  reform  broken  lines. 
As  stated  before,  the  firing  of  the  Fifth  Corps  was  the 
signal  to  General  Merritt  to  assault,  which  was  promptly 
responded  to,  and  the  works  of  the  enemy  were  soon  car- 
ried at  several  points  by  our  brave  cavalrymen.  The 
enemy  were  driven  from  their  strong  line  of  works,  and 
completely  routed,  the  Fifth  Corps  doubling  up  their  left 
flank  in  confusion,  and  the  cavalry  of  General  Merritt 
dashing  on  to  the  White  Oak  road,  capturing  their  artil- 
lery and  turning  it  upon  them,  and  riding  into  their 
broken  ranks,  so  demoralized  them,  that  they  made  no 
serious  stand  after  their  line  was  carried,  but  took  to 
flight  in  disorder.  Between  5,000  and  6,000  prisoners 
fell  into  our  hands,  and  the  fugitives  were  driven  west- 
ward, and  were  pursued  until  long  after  dark  by  Merritt's 
and  McKenzie's  cavalry,  for  a  distance  of  six  miles." 

Thinking  that  Warren  did  not  sustain  him  with  suffi- 
cient vigor,  he  suddenly  removed  him  from  the  command, 
of  the  corps,  and  gave  it  to  Griffin. 
31 


484  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP  HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

By  ttis  victory  he  separated  the  portion  of  the  rebel 
force  stationed  there  from  the  main  army,  and  at  once 
wheeled  west,  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy's  works  before 
Petersburg.  These  being  assailed  by  Meade's  army  in 
front,  at  the  same  time,  and  carried,  necessitated  the  evac- 
uation of  the  place,  which  in  turn  compelled  that  of  Rich- 
mond itself,  and  the  hasty  retreat  of  Lee  toward  Danville. 

The  great  object  now  was  to  cut  him  off  from  that 
point,,  and  Sheridan  pushed  on  to  Burkesville,  the  junc- 
tion of  the  railroads,  getting  there  first.  The  Second 
and  Sixth  Corps  were  sent  on  to  his  support,  and  a  fight 
ensued  with  Ewell,  near  Amelia  Court  House,  in  which 
he  and  a  large  number  of  generals  and  ten  thousand  pris- 
oners were  taken. 

Sheridan  now  pushed  the  enemy  with  terrible  energy, 
Learning,  on  the  8th,  that  at  Appomattox  Depot,  twenty- 
eight  miles  distant,  there  were  four  trains  loaded  with 
supplies  for  Lee,  he  sent  a  force  rapidly  forward  and 
seized  them,  with  twenty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a 
large  park  of  wagons,  and  scattered  the  rebel  cavalry  like 
chaff  from  his  path.  He  says:  "The  fighting  continued 
till  after  dark,  and  the  enemy  being  driven  to  Appomat- 
tox Court  House,  I  at  once  notified  the  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral, and  sent  word  to  Generals  Ord  and  Gibbon,  of  the 
Army  of  the  James,  and  General  Griffin,  commanding 
the  Fifth  Corps,  who  were  in  the  rear,  that,  if  they  press- 
ed on,  there  was  now  no  means  of  escape  for  the  enemy, 
who  had  reached  c  the  last  ditch.'  During  the  night,  al- 
though we  knew  that  the  remnant  of  Lee's  army  was  in 
our  front,  we  held  fast  with  the  cavalry  to  what  we  had 
gained,  and  ran  the  captured  trains  back  along  the  rail* 
road  to  a  point  where  they  would  be  protected  by  our  in- 
fantry that  was  coming  up.  The  Twenty-fourth  and 


CLOSING   EVENTS.  485 

Fifth  Corps,  and  one  division  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Ccrps, 
arrived  about  daylight  on  the  9th  at  Appomattox  Depot 

"After  consulting  with  General  Ord,  who  was  in 
command  of  these  corps,  I  rode  to  the  front,  near  Appo- 
mattox Court  House,  and  just  as  the  enemy  in  heavy 
force  was  attacking  the  cavalry  with  the  intention  of 
breaking  through  our  lines,  I  directed  the  cavalry,  which 
was  dismounted,  to  fall  back,  gradually  resisting  the  en- 
emy, so  as  to  give  time  for  the  infantry  to  form  its  lines 
and  march  to  the  attack,  and  when  this  was  done,  to 
move  off  to  the  right  flank  and  mount.  This  was  done, 
and  the  enemy  discontinued  his  attack  as  soon  as  he 
caught  sight  of  our  infantry.  I  moved  briskly  around 
the  left  of  the  enemy's  line  of  battle,  which  was  falling 
back  rapidly  (heavily  pressed  by  the  advance  of  the  in- 
fantry), and  was  about  to  charge  the  trains  and  the  con- 
fused masses  of  the  enemy,  when  a  white  flag  was  pre- 
sented to  General  Custer,  who  had  the  advance,  and  who 
sent  the  information  to  me  at  once  that  the  enemy  desired 
to  surrender," 

Sheridan,  in  these  last  movements,  added  greatly  to 
his  well-earned  fame,  and  exhibited  in  a  remarkable  de- 
gree that  sleuthhound  tenacity  with  which  he  always 
hangs  on  his  quarry.  In  this  respect  he  resembles  Grant 
Tough  as  iron  himself,  he  needs  neither  food  nor  rest,  and 
seems  to  think  his  horses  and  men  are  like  him.  Intent 
only  on  striking  the  enemy,  delay  from  whatever  cause 
exasperates  him,  and  to  keep  pace  with  his  eagerness  an 
army  would  need  to  have  wings. 

In  person,  Sheridan  is  not  very  prepossessing.  Short, 
not  more  than  five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  he  presents 
somewhat  a  diminutive  appearance,  and  is  known  among 
his  soldiers  as  "Little  Phil."  He  is,  however,  stoutly 


486  MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   HENRY   SHERIDAN. 

built,  and  his  body  being  longer  in  proportion  than  his 
lower  limbs,  he  appears  taller  on  horseback  than  on  foot. 
Broad-chested,  compact  and  firm,  with  no  superfluous 
flesh  on  his  body,  he  seems  made  for  endurance.  He 
has  a  broad  but  not  high  forehead,  showing  the  fighter 
rather  than  the  thinker ;  clear,  dark,  and  kindly  eyes,  and 
a  somewhat  elongated  head,  covered  with  a  full  crop  of 
close  curling,  dark  hair.  Neat  in  his  person,  and  quiet, 
unassuming,  and  modest  in  his  demeanor,  he  gives,  in  his 
general  appearance,  no  indication  of 'the  thunderbolt  he  is 
in  battle.  There  his  modesty  disappears,  and  one  forgets 
that  he  ever  had  an  unassuming  manner — for  he  rises  at 
once  to  the  greatness  and  responsibility  of  the  occasion, 
and  moves  and  speaks  with  an  energy  and  an  air  of  com- 
mand that  inspires  awe.  In  private  intercourse,  he  is 
genial,  frank,  and  universally  liked.  His  mind  does  not 
seem  formed  for  great  combinations,  but  to  plan  and  ex- 
ecute a  single  task.  His  tenacity  is  wonderful ;  and  reck- 
less of  danger  himself,  he  inspires  his  troops  with  cour- 
age, where  another  commander  would  totally  fail.  Like 
Grant  and  Thomas,  he  is  a  rock  on  the  fiercely  contested 
field,  but,  unlike  them,  he  is  a  rock  inherent  with  fire, 
and  sending  off  sparks  on  every  side.  His  action  is  ve- 
hement, and  his  fiery  words  are  wrenched  from  him  in 
short  syllables,  and  not  always  in  choice  language.  In 
this  latter  respect  he  could  very  much  improve,  and  occu- 
pying the  high  and  responsible  position  he  does,  doubtless 
will.  A  firmer  prop  on  a  great  and  doubtful  battle-field 
a  commander  need  not  desire,  and  never  will  find;  for 
what  man  can  do,  he  will  accomplish.  His  troops  are 
proud  of  him,  for  though  he  is  a  strict  disciplinarian,  he 
cares  tenderly  for  their  wants,  while  his  name  sheds  a 
glory  over  their  achievements.  In  ordinary  times  he 


HIS    CHARACTER.  487 

would  have  lived  and  died  without  being  distinguished 
for  anything  but  indomitable  energy  in  performing  any 
duty  assigned  him.  Circumstances  have  developed  his 
great  military  qualities,  and  placed  him  in  the  front  rank 
of  commanders.  Still,  he  has  nowhere  exhibited  any  re- 
markable strategical  ability ;  but  his  power  of  execution 
is  marvellous.  He  seems  to  think  that  a  reserve  body  of 
troops  in  battle  is  entirely  useless,  for  he.  invariably 
brings  his  entire  force  into  the  action  at  the  outset.  Na- 
polean  practised  these  tactics  in  some  of  his  first  battles ; 
still  the  system  is  a  hazardous  one,  and  it  will  not  do  to 
act  on  it  universally.  Sheridan  is  a  natural  fighter,  and 
in  the  smoke  and  turmoil  of  a  heavy  conflict  is  in  his 
element.  This  belligerent  spirit  was  born  in  him,  and  is 
so  strong  that  he  cannot  stay  long  in  headquarters  to  give 
general  directions.  The  smoke  and  thunder  of  battle 
arouses  it  to  such  a  pitch,  that  after  awhile  he  draws  his 
sword,  and  with  an  oath,  declaring  he  cannot  stand  that, 
puts  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  dashes  to  the  front.  He 
now  commands  in  Texas. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  McAXLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 


HIS  BIRTH  AND  NATIVITY — GRADUATES  AT  TNHEST  POINT — INSTRUCTOR  AT  THH 
ACADEMY — ELECTED  PRESIDENT  OP  WASHINGTON  COLLEGE — APPOINTED 
MAJOR — COMMANDS  THE  MILITIA  OF  MISSOURI — COMMANDS  THE  ARMY  OF 
THE  FRONTIER — ASSESSES  DISLOYAL  PEOPLE — COMMANDS  THE  MISSOURI 
DEPARTMENT— COMMANDS  ONE  OF  THE  THREE  ARMIES  OF  SHERMAN  EK 
THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN — LEFT  TO  TAKE  CARE  OF  HOOD — BATTLE  OP 
FRANKLIN  —  BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE — ORDERED  EAST  TO  NEWBERN — • 
BATTLE  OF  KINSTON — ENTERS  GOLDSBORO — HIS  CHARACTER. 

JOHN  MCALLISTER  SCHOFIELD  was  born  in  Chautauque 
County,  New  York  State,  September  29th,  1831,  and 
hence  is  still  a  comparatively  young  man.  When  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age  his  father  removed  to  Illinois,  from 
which  State  he  was  sent  to  West  Point,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1853,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  Brevetted  second 
lieutenant  in  the  Second  Artillery,  he  was  stationed  at 
Fort  Moultrie,  South  Carolina,  and  afterward  at  Fort 
Cassin,  Florida.  At  the  end  of  two  years,  he  was  ordered 
to  West  Point  as  Instructor  in  Natural  Philosophy, 
where  he  remained  five  years,  or  till  the  year  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war. 

In  the  meantime  (having  been  appointed  first  lieuten- 
ant) he  received  an  invitation  to  become  Professor  of 
Natural  Philosophy  in  Washington  University,  St.  Louis, 


AT  WILSON'S  CREEK.  489 

Missouri,  and  asked  leave  of  absence  to  accept  it.  His  re- 
quest being  granted,  he  entered  on  his  duties,  in  the  perform- 
ance of  which  the  war  found  him.  The  War  Depart- 
ment at  once  ordered  him  to  muster  into  service  the 
Missouri  troops,  and  he  did  so,  while,  at  the  same  time^ 
he  was  made  Major  of  the  First  Missouri  Volunteers, 
In  May  he  was  promoted  to  captain  in  the  regular  army. 

After  the  battle  of  Booneville  he  joined  General  Lyon 
as  assistant  adjutant-general  and  chief  of  his  staff,  and  in 
this  capacity  rode  beside  him  in  the  fiercely  fought  battle  of 
Wilson's  Creek.  When  Lyon  was  first  wounded  he  turned 
to  Schofield  and  said,  "  The  day  is  lost."  "  No,"  replied 
the  latter.  "  General,  let  us  try  once  more."  They  did 
try  once  more,  and  the  gallant  Lyon,  charging  at  the 
head  of  a  regiment,  fell  dead  from  his  dappled  gray. 
Young  Schofield  himself  had  a  narrow  escape,  fora  bullet 
took  away  a  portion  of  his  whiskers. 

In  November  he  was  commissioned  Brigadier-General, 
and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  militia  of  Missouri, 
authorized  by  the  War  Department  to  be  raised  for  ser- 
vice during  the  war.  He  waged  a  relentless  warfare 
against  the  guerillas,  killing  some  of  the  leaders  and  scat- 
tering the  bands  in  every  direction. 

When  Halleck  took  command  of  the  army,  after  the 
battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  four-fifths  of  the  State  was 
placed  under  Schofield,  and  in  June  following,  the  whole 
State.  In  August,  he  issued  an  order  assessing  $500,000 
upon  secessionists  and  rebel  sympathizers  in  St.  Louis 
county,  the  money  to  be  appropriated  in  clothing,  arming 
and  subsisting  the  militia  of  the  State,  and  such  of  their 
families  as  might  be  left  destitute. 

In  October  he  was  placed  over  the  Army  of  the  Fron- 
tier, composed  of  the  troops  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  and, 


490         MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN   McALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

taking  the  field,  soon  drove  the  rebel  forces  out  of  the 
State  into  the  valley  of  Arkansas,  defeating  Hindman 
near  Pea  Ridge,  and  pursuing  him  over  the  Boston 
Mountain. 

In  February,  1864,  Schofield  relieved  Foster  at 
Knoxville,  and  continued  in  command  of  that  impor- 
tant post  until  the  following  spring.  When  Sherman 
organized  the  Atlanta  campaign,  he  put  him  over 
that  division  of  his  force  called  the  "Army  of  the 
Ohio,"  numbering  13,559  men,  with  twenty-eight  guns. 
He  now  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  show  his  great  qualities 
as  a  military  leader — and  in  the  long  marches,  difficult 
manoeuvres  and  fierce  fighting  that  followed,  handled  his 
army  with  a  skill  and  success  that  at  once  arrested  the 
attention  of  Sherman.  At  Kenesaw  Mountain,  around 
Atlanta,  in  that  wonderful  movement  by  which  the  army 
was  swung  upon  the  Macon  Road,  Schofield  moved  his 
troops  with  a  precision  and  ability  that  elicited  the  highest 
applause.  So  highly  did  he  estimate  his  capacity,  that 
when  he  afterwards  determined  on  his  Georgia  campaign 
and  sent  Thomas  to  Nashville  to  gather  up  an  army  with 
which  to  take  care  of  Hood,  he  placed  Schofield  in  com. 
inand  of  all  the  forces  in  the  field  opposed  to  the  rebel 
General,  consisting  of  the  Fourth  and  Twenty-fourth 
Corps.  This  was  a  responsible  and  hazardous  position, 
for  Hood  outnumbered  him  heavily;  yet,  his  business 
was  to  retard  the  march  of  the  latter  northward  as  much 
as  possible,  and  so  give  Thomas,  at  Nashville,  time  to 
gather  in  his  troops.  The  rebel  commander,  on  hearing 
that  Sherman  had  fallen  back  to  Atlanta,  at  once  resolved 
to  push  forward  to  Nashville ;  so,  about  the  20th  of  No- 
vember, he  crossed  the  Tennessee  and  marched  straight  for 
PulaskL  Schofield,  skirmishing  as  he  retired,  fell  back 


BATTLE   OF   FRANKLIN.  491 

across  Duck  River,  where  he  made  a  stand,  not  intending 
to  fight  a  decisive  battle  there,  but  to  delay  Hood's  move- 
ments. The  latter,  however,  pressed  him  so  closely,  that 
he  had  time  only  to  destroy  the  railroad  bridge,  and  set 
fire  to  his  own  pontoon  bridge,  leaving  the  wreck  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  and  march  swiftly  for  Franklin, 
eighteen  miles  from  Nashville,  in  order  to  get  first  across 
the  Harpeth  River.  If  he  succeeded,  he  was  compara- 
tively safe,  for  he  could  then  fall  back,  without  danger,  to 
the  works  around  Nashville.  But  if  Hood  reached  it  first, 
his  army  would  be  cut  off,  and  the  city,  with  its  vast 
stores,  probably  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  half-starved, 
ragged  army  of  the  rebels.  Schofield's  immense  train 
crippled  him  sadly,  and  at  one  time  it  was  doubtful 
if  he  could  save  his  artillery  and  army  both.  Hood, 
knowing  how  much  was  at  stake,  made  desperate  efforts 
to  reach  Harpeth  River  first,  and  it  was  a  life  and  death 
race  between  the  two  armies,  but  Schofield  won  it  nobly. 
Once  over  the  river,  he  resolved  to  strike  the  enemy  one 
blow  before  he  took  shelter  in  the  works  before  Nashville, 
and,  rapidly  gathering  up  his  forces,  threw  up  breastr 
works  and  awaited  his  approach. 

At  four  o'clock,  on  the  last  day  of  November,  Hood 
made  an  overwhelming  attack  on  the  centre  of  Schofield's 
position,  which  at  first  was  successful,  and  Wagner,  who 
commanded  here,  was  driven  back  and  lost  two  guns. 
He,  however,  rallied  his  men  and,  charging  back,  retook 
his  guns,  and  captured  a  whole  rebel  brigade.  From 
that  time  on  until  dark,  the  enemy,  though  they  came  on 
with  a  desperation  and  disregard  of  death  that  were  mar- 
vellous, were  mowed  down  by  grape  and  canister,  al- 
most in  battalions.  More  heroic  valor  was  never  ex- 
hibited by  any  troops  than  was  shown  here  by  the  rebels. 


492         MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  McALLISTER  SCHOFIELD. 

Laid  in  frightful  swaths  in  front  of  Schofield's  breast- 
works, yet  they  came  on  in  new  lines,  determined  to 
win  the  victory.  They  advanced  their  flags  to  the  very 
crests  of  our  works,  yet  could  not  carry  them.  Like 
wreaths  of  mist  the  gray  lines  melted  away,  until  six 
thousand  men  lay  stretched  on  the  open  ground  in  front 
of  the  entrenchments. 

Throughout  this  terrible  battle  Schofield  bore  himself 
grandly.  Cool  andx  steady,  he  was  everywhere  present, 
holding  his  men  to  the  shock  with  invincible  firmness.  He 
could  bring  but  a  portion  of  his  army  into  the  fight,  as  he 
had  to  detail  a  large  force  to  guard  his  trains,  which  made 
him  very  inferior  to  the  enemy,  but  he  not  only  held  his 
position,  but  inflicted  a  loss  on  him  six  times  as  great  as 
he  himself  suffered.  Although  the  decisive  battle  was 
yet  to  be  fought,  he,  nevertheless,  taught  the  rebel  general 
a  bitter  lesson,  relieved  him  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  his  army 
and  thirteen  major  and  brigadier-generals,  and  gave 
Thomas  more  time,  which  he  needed  sadly. 

When  night  put  an  end  to  the  contest,  he  continued 
his  retreat  to  Nashville,  having  lost  in  all  only  about  one 
thousand  men. 

In  the  subsequent  battle  of  Nashville,  that  occurred 
some  two  weeks  later,  Schofield  commanded  the  Twenty- 
third  Corps,  and,  on  the  first  day,  acted  mostly  as  a 
reserve,  though  just  at  evening  he  swung  out  on  the  right 
of  Smith,  who  had  been  rolling  up  Hood's  left,  and  got 
his  men  well  to  work  before  night  put  a  stop  to  the  con- 
flict. The  next  day,  Thomas  would  not  let  his  infantry 
advance  on  the  new  position  that  Hood  had  taken  up, 
until  he  heard  from  his  cavalry,  which  he  had  sent  in  a 
wide  circuit  to  the  rebel  rear.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon a  prolonged  fire  of  rifles  and  carbines  announced 


BATTLE   OF  NASHVILLE.  493 

its  arrival  at  the  desired  point.  The  decisive  moment 
had  at  last  come,  and  Thomas,  in  his  imperturbable  way, 
turning  to  his  aids,  said,  "Now  tell  Generals  Schofield 
and  Smith  to  advance.11  Away  they  dashed  on  a  wild 
gallop,  but  they  came  too  late,  for  these  two  generals  no 
sooner  heard  the  fire  in  the  rebel  rear  than  they  ordered 
a  general  assault.  With  levelled  bayonets  and  high-ring- 
ing cheers  they  moved  swiftly  on  the  rebel  position,  and 
though  swept  by  a  most  murderous  fire,  never  faltered 
for  a  moment.  For  a  short  time  it  was  frightful  work. 
"  The  hills  shook,  the  earth  trembled,  and  the  whole  field 
was  like  the  sulphurous  and  gaping  mouth  of  hell,11  for 
the  whole  rebel  line  was  a  sheet  of  fire,  and  "  ablaze  with 
the  musketry  and  roar  of  cannon,11  but  in  half  an  hour  it 
was  over,  and  the  whole  rebel  army  in  full  retreat. 

This  great  decisive  battle  disposed  of  the  last  rebel 
army  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  east  of  that  river, 
so  that  little  was  left  for  Thomas1  army  to  do,  and  Sher- 
man ordered  Schofield  east  to  assist  him.  By  the  able 
management  of  Gov.  Parsons,  his  whole  corps  was 
brought  to  the  Potomac  in  mid- winter  in  fourteen  days, 
a  distance  of  some  1,500  miles,  without  the  loss  of  a  man 
or  animal. 

He  was  immediately  transferred  to  Wilmington,  and 
afterwards  to  Newbern,  to  cooperate  with  Sherman  in  his 
march  through  the  Carolinas.  Furnished  with  every 
means  of  completing  the  railroads  as  he  advanced,  he,  in 
March,  pushed  inland  to  meet  his  old  commander  at  Golds- 
fyoro1.  On  the  10th,  when  near  Kinston,  the  rebels  made 
a  sudden  attack  upon  him,  capturing  two  or  three  small 
guns,  and  a  line  of  skirmishers.  Elated  with  this  success, 
they  came  down  with  great  fury  on  his  entrenchments,  and 
endeavored,  by  an  overwhelming  onset,  to  pierce  his  centre. 


494         MAJOR-GENERAL. JOHN   McALLISTER   SCHOFIELD. 

Repulsed,  they  came  on  again  and  again,  but  finally  re- 
treated, leaving  their  dead  and  wounded  in  our  hands, 
besides  several  hundred  prisoners.  They  made  another 
stand  at  Kinston,  but,  outgeneraled  by  Schofield,  again 
retreated,  when  the  latter  occupied  it.  He  now  kept  on 
up  the  river,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  entered 
Goldsboro',  a  day  or  two  before  Sherman,  and  within  a 
few  hours  of  the  time  appointed  by  the  latter.  It  is  said 
that  when  the  soldiers  who  had  traversed  Georgia  and 
the  Carolinas  saw  again  their  old  comrades  of  the  West, 
with  whom  they  had  parted  six  months  before,  an  excit- 
ing scene  followed,  and  cheer  after  cheer  rent  the  air. 

The  surrender  of  Lee,  followed  by  that  of  Johnston 
soon  after,  closed  the  war,  and  in  the  division  of  the 
country  into  military  departments,  Schofield  was  assigned 
to  that  of  North  Carolina,  where  he  now  is. 

HIS   CHARACTER. 

Schofield  is  one  of  the  most  promising  generals  in  the 
army — having  shown  great  capacity  in  the  field,  and 
those  sterling  qualities  on  which  a  permanent  reputation 
is  built.  With  great  forecast  and  sagacity,  he  will  never 
commit  blunders,  while  his  cool  self-possession,  and  quick 
eye  in  battle,  make  him  a  dangerous  antagonist. 

Major  Nichols,  an  aid  of  Sherman,  says,  "  General 
Schofield  is  a  gentleman  of  fine  address  and  elegant  man- 
ners. There  is  nothing  of  the  plausible  sycophant  either 
in  his  words  or  actions.  He  listens  well,  talks  but  little,  and 
appears  to  reflect  and  carefully  weigh  both  what  he  hears 
and  says.  At  the  first  view  of  his  round,  well-developed 
head,  his  resolute  mouth,  and  calm,  reflective  eyes,  one  is 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  is  in  the  presence  of  a 


HIS   CHARACTER.  ^495 

statesman,  rather  than  a  soldier.  Perhaps  Schofield  par- 
takes of  the  character  of  both.  His  brilliant  military 
history  proves  him  to  be  a  superior  soldier.  He  possesses 
not  only  will  and  purpose,  but  he  is  perfectly  versed  in 
that  technical  knowledge  of  his  profession,  without  which 
will  is  almost  valueless.  While  he  may  not  be  gifted 
with  that  dash  and  spirit  which  characterize  other  com- 
manders, he  has  a  calm  assurance,  and  sober  judgment, 
which  are  never  disturbed,  even  in  the  hour  of  repulse 
and  disaster,  and  which  is  quick  to  seize  the  moment 
when  success  wrung  from  doubt  carries  the  victory.1' 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM  B.  HAZEN. 


HIS  ANCESTRY — NATIVITY — EARLY  OCCUPATION — ENTERS  WEST  POINT— » 
SERVES  AGAINST  THE  INDIANS  IN  CALIFORNIA — SENT  TO  TEXAS — WOUND- 
ED IN  A  FIGHT  WITH  THE  CAMANCHES — RETURNS  HOME — IS  APPOINTED 
PROFESSOR  AT  WEST  POINT — MADE  COLONEL  OF  AN  OHIO  REGIMENT- 
SERVES  UNDER  BUELL — GALLANTRY  AT  SHILOH— PURSUES  BRAGG  THROUGH 
THE  CUMBERLAND  MOUNTAINS — HIS  GALLANT  CONDUCT  IN  THE  BATTLB 
OF  MURFREESBORO — HOLDS  THE  TENNESSEE  RIVER — AT  CHICKAMAUGA — 
SEIZES  BROWN'S  FERRY— A  NIGHT  SCENE— GALLANT  CHARGE  UP  MISSION- 
ARY RIDGE — SENT  TO  RELIEVE  KNOXVILLE — ATLANTA  AND  GEORGIA 
CAMPAIGNS — STORMING  OF  FORT  M'ALLISTER — TAKES  PART  IN  THE  CAM- 
PAIGN OF  THE  CAROLINAS — HIS  CHARACTER. 

IT  is  a  curious  fact,  that  scarcely  a  great  general  in 
this  war  can  trace  his  descent  from  any  of  the  distinguish- 
ed officers  of  the  Hevolution.  The  country  is  full  of  their 
descendants  in  a  more  or  less  direct  line,  and  many  of 
them  are  found  in  the  army;  yet  the  great  leaders  have 
almost  uniformly  been  new  men.  General  Hazen,  how- 
ever, is  an  exception  to  this  rule,  for  his  great  grandfather 
was  the  first  brigadier-general  commissioned  in  the 
Federal  army  of  the  Hevolution,  and  as  the  companion 
of  Ethan  Allen  and  Putnam,  bore  a  noble  part  in  that 
great  struggle.  His  son  married  a  descendant  of  "  old 
Put,"  so  that  the  present  General  Hazen  on  both  sides, 
has  a  patriotic  ancestry.  True  to  his  noble  lineage,  the 


WOUNDED   BY  THE   INDIANS.  497 

father  of  the  'subject  of  this  sketch  has  had  his  three  sons 
and  a  grandson,  all  that  were  capable  of  bearing  arms,  in 
the  recent  Union  army. 

William  B.  Hazen  was  born  in  Hiram,  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  in  1833,  and  was  one  of  a  family  of  six, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  father  being  a 

o  o 

farmer,  he  was  reared  to  the  same  occupation,  and  receiv- 
ing only  a  limited  education,  passed  his  early  years  in 
hard  labor  on  the  farm.  But  on  becoming  of  age,  he 
determined  to  get  a  place  in  the  military  school  at  West 
Point ;  but  his  application  and  efforts  to  obtain  admis- 
sion were  fruitless  for  a  long  time,  so  that  when  he  finally 
succeeded,  he  was  within  -two  weeks  of  the  age  that  would 
have  forever  excluded  him.  Entering  in  1851,  he  gradu- 
ated in  1855,  and  was  appointed  brevet  second  lieutenant 
hi  the  Fourth  United  States  Infantry.  Two  months 
later,  he  was  made  second  lieutenant  in  the  Eighth  In- 
fantry while  on  his  way  to  join  his  regiment  then  serving 
in  Oregon  and  California,  and  which  he  found  at  Fort 
Inge,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Sacramento.  The  war 
with  the  Indians  had  already  commenced,  and  the  very 
next  day  after  his  arrival,  he  marched  with  his  company 
to  Fort  Lane,  Rouge  river,  where  the  fighting  was  most 
serious.  This  was  in  October,  1856,  and  he  kept  the 
field  till  the  next  April,  taking  his  first  lessons  in  the 
profession  he  was  destined  to  adorn.  He  then  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Eighth  Infantry,  in  Texas,  and  sent  against 
the  Camanches,  who  were  committing  depredations  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State.  It  required  great  skill  and 
sagacity  to  operate  successfully  against  these  wily  fero- 
cious savages,  but  he  pressed  them  from  point  to  point, 
forcing  them  to  five  separate  engagements,  in  the  last  of 
which  (December,  1859,)  he  was  badly  wounded.  The 


498  MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

ball  passed  through  his  left  hand,  and  entering  the  right 
side,  finally  lodged  in  the  muscles  of  his  back,  where  it 
yet  remains,  or  was  there  as  late  as  the  battle  of  Stone 
River. 

His  little  band  bore  him  tenderly  back  over  the  deso- 
late region  where  he  fell ;  but  it  was  eight  days  before 
they  reached  a  settlement.  Here  he  lay  for  many  weeks 
a  helpless  invalid,  undergoing  repeated  surgical  opera- 
tions in  the  vain  endeavor  to  find  and  extract  the  bullet. 
He  was  not  able  to  be  moved  till  the  next  February, 
1860,  when  he  started  for  the  North.  Before  he  left,  the 
people  held  a  public  meeting  in  San  Antonio,  at  which 
highly  complimentary  resolutions  were  passed,  and  an 
elegant  sword  presented  him  as  a  token  of  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  great  services  he  had  rendered  the  frontier 
inhabitants. 

Still  suffering  from  his  wound  after  he  reached  home, 
he  asked  and  obtained  a  year's  leave  of  absence,  with 
permission  to  travel  in  Europe.  In  the  meantime,  he 
was  brevetted  first  lieutenant,  for  meritorious  services. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  furlough  he  reported  himself 
and  applied  for  service,  although  he  still  carried  his  arm  in 
a  sling.  In  February,  just  before  the  inauguration  of 
President  Lincoln,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Professor 
of  Infantry  Tactics  at  West  Point.  In  April,  he  was 
promoted  to  first  lieutenant  in  the  Eighth  Infantry,  and 
soon  after  made  captain.  The  loud  call  of  his  country 
for  men,  and  the  wide  field  which  had  opened  for  distinc- 
tion in  his  profession,  made  his  duties  at  West  Point  irk- 
some to  him,  and  he  applied  for  active  employment.  His 
application  was  refused,  and  he  was  compelled  to  sit  still 
and  see  his  old  companions  rising  tb  rank  and  renown 
around  him.  But  when  the  call  for  300,000  troops  was 


CHARGE   AT   SHILOH.  499 

made,  men  of  influence  in  Ohio  took  up  his  case,  deter- 
mined to  have  him  an  officer  hi  the  army  of  volunteers, 
which  the  State  was  raising.  They  succeeded  in  getting 
his  release  from  West  Point,  and  he  was  made  Colonel 
of  the  Forty-First  Regiment  of  Volunteers,  then  organ- 
izing at  Cleveland.  When  he  joined  it  in  the  middle  of 
September,  its  ranks  were  not  half  full ;  but  by  his  energy, 
he  soon  had  it  ready  for  the  field.  Gallipolis,  on  the 
Ohio,  being  threatened  by  the  rebels  from  Western  Vir- 
ginia, he  was  ordered  thither ;  but  in  December,  he  took 
his  command  to  Louisville,  where  Buell  was  organizing 
his  army.  Being  a  rigid  disciplinarian  himself,  Buell  soon 
discovered  the  merits  of  Hazen,  whose  severe,  thorough 
drill  had  already  made  his  battalion  a  model  one,  and  he 
placed  him  in  command  of  the  Nineteenth  Brigade  of 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio — Nelson's  division.  He  moved 
with  Buell  to  Nashville,  and  thence  across  the  country  to 
Pittsburg  Landing,  arriving  on  the  evening  of  the  first 
day's  disastrous  fight,  and  was  hurried  across  the  river 
and  put  in  line  of  battle.  His  skirmishers  opened  the 
engagement  next  morning,  and  when  the  battle  became 
general,  he  led  his  brigade  in  a  charge  so  fierce  and  re- 
sistless that  he  drove  the  first  line  of  the  enemy  back  on 
the  second,  and  forcing  this  also  back,  captured  a  battery. 
Nearly  one  third  of  his  entire  command  was  struck  down 
in  this  brilliant  charge. 

He  continued  to  serve  as  brigade  commander  during 
all  the  subsequent  operations  against  Corinth,  and  after- 
wards with  Buell,  in  his  movements  in  Northern  Missis- 
sippi, Alabama,  and  Kentucky.  In  the  pursuit  of  Bragg^ 
out  of  the  latter  State,  he  led  the  advance  of  Crittenden's 
corps,  and  for  eight  days  pushed  the  rebel  rear  guard  un- 
remittingly, and  finally  drove  it  through  the  passes  of  the 

32 


500  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   B.    HA  ZEN. 

mountains.  When  Rosecrans  superseded  Buell  he  still 
retained  his  command,  serving  as  brigadier,  though  still 
only  a  colonel. 

At  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  or  Murfreesboro,  he 
greatly  distinguished  himself.  His  brigade,  of  Palmer's 
division,  was  posted  on  the  extreme  left,  and  held  its  po- 
sition all  that  terrible  day,  serving  as  a  pivot,  on  which 
the  army  swung  disorderly  back  before  the  fierce  onsets 
of  the  enemy.  At  last  the  storm,  which  carried  every- 
thing with  it,  struck  this  division  also.  It  was  a  moment 
of  extreme  peril — "  Clouds  of  soldiers  breaking  from  the 
woods  across  the  open  fields  to  the  right  and  rear,  artil- 
lery, with  the  horses  goaded  to  a  run,  flying  from  the 
rapidly-pursuing  foe,"  was  the  spectacle  presented  to  his 
view;  while  the  rebels,  in  double  lines,  were  seen  moving 
steadily  down  in  front.  Hazen's  brigade  now  showed 
the  effect  of  thorough  discipline.  "Down  upon  Palmer's 
division  came  the  rebels  like  an  avalanche — Croft,  in  the 
wood  to  the  right  of  the  pike  is  overpowered,  leaving 
hundreds  on  the  field,  and  exposing  the  right  of  Hazen's 
brigade."  Sending  off  in  hot  haste  for  help — -saying,  that 
assistance  must  be  given  at  once  or  his  brigade  would  be 
sacrificed ;  as  the  position  must  not  and  would  not  be 
given  up  while  a  man  remained  to  hold  it,  for  if  that  was 
lost,  all  was  lost,  he  turned  to  one  regiment  that  was 
out  of  ammunition,  and  ordered  it  to  fix  bayonets ; 
another,  that  had  no  bayonets,  to  club  their  guns,  and 
hold  their  ground  at  all  hazard.  The  brave  fellows  re- 
plied with  loud  cheers,  and  boldly  confronted  the  enemy. 
Then,  galloping  off  to  bring  up  the  Ninth  Indiana,  he  led 
them  on  the  double  quick  through  the  desolating  fire.  A 
cannon  shot  in  full  sweep  crashed  through  the  ranks, 
making  a  fearful  rent ;  but  they  closed  up  without  check- 


A   GALLANT   STAND.  501 

ing  step.  The  Forty-First  Ohio  now  retired,  as  though 
on  parade,  cheering,  and  at  the  same  time  crying  for 
cartridges.  Ammunition  at  length  arrived,  with  rein- 
forcements from  Grove's  brigade,  when  bracing  up  his 
lines,  Hazen  stood  firm  as  a  rock.  Again  and  again  the 
rebels,  determined  to  carry  this  last  position  at  all  haz- 
ard, came  down  in  overwhelming  numbers.  But  the  con- 
centrated fire  that  smote  them  was  too  hot  and  awful  for 
flesh  and  blood  to  stand,  and  the  last  time  they  entered 
it,  all  but  one  regiment  halted  and  recoiled.  This  kept 
breasting  it  with  the  loftiest  daring,  and  pushed  on  till 
within  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  line.  At  last, 
with  u  every  mounted  officer  and  half  of  its  men  shot 
down,  it  threw  itself  flat  upon  the  ground,  unable  to  ad- 
vance,  and  not  daring  to  retreat  in  line."  Hazen,  who 
was  constantly  at  the  point  of  greatest  danger,  had  his 
horse  shot  under  him,  while  a  bullet  bruised  his  shoulder, 
yet  still  rode  amid  his  brigade,  a  tower  of  strength. 

After  a  long  lull  in  the  battle,  Bragg,  enraged  to  see 
victory  slipping  from  his  grasp,  determined  to  make  one 
more  effort  to  dislodge  Hazen.  The  latter,  speaking  of 
this,  says,  "  About  four  o'clock  the  enemy  again  advanced 
upon  my  front  in  two  lines.  The  battle  had  hushed,  and 
the  dreadful  splendor  of  this  advance  can  only  be  con- 
ceived,  as  all  description  must  fall  vastly  short.  His 
right  was  even  with  my  left,  and  his  left  was  lost  in  the 
distance.  He  advanced  steadily,  as  it  seemed  to  certain 
victory.  I  sent  back  all  my  remaining  staff  successively 
to  ask  for  support,  and  braced  up  my  own  lines  as  per- 
fectly as  possible.*"  Calm  and  stern,  he  watched  the 
steady,  firm  approach,  waiting  till  the  enemy  was  in  close 
range,  when  the  order  to  fire  ran  along  the  line.  One 
unbroken  sheet  of  flams — one  crashing  volley  followed,  and 


502  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

when  the  smoke  lifted  the  advancing  columns  were  wheel- 
ing off  to  the  right.  This  virtually  ended  the  battle,  and 
that  night  his  immortal  brigade  lay  down  upon  the  crim- 
son field  where  it  had  fought,  "  the  only  brigade  in  the 
army  that  was  not  driven  from  its  position." 

The  next  day,  when  Hardee  made  the  desperate  at- 
tempt to  turn  our  left  flank,  Hazen  was  sent  across  the 
river  to  the  aid  of  Grove. 

In  recommending  him  for  promotion,  Rosecrans  said, 
"  Col.  W.  B.  Hazen  has  been  intrusted  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  commanding  a  brigade,  perhaps  as  long  as  any 
officer  in  the  service  of  similar  rank.  At  Shiloh  he  dis- 
played marked  ability.  At  Stone  River  he  proved  him- 
self a  brave  and  able  soldier  by  the  courage  and  skill  he 
displayed  in  forming  and  sheltering  his  troops,  and  in  or- 
ganizing and  fighting  all  the  material  around  him,  in 
order  to  hold  his  important  position."  He  did  not  re- 
ceive his  commission,  however,  till  April,  though  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  sent  in  his  name  three  different  times  for 
promotion.  Acting  as  brigadier  for  a  whole  year — en- 
gaged in  two  great  battles  in  which  he  distinguished  him- 
self, still  the  Senate,  though  making  brigadiers  by  the 
wholesale  of  men  who  were  never  in  a  fight,  refused  to 
give  him  the  rank  which  he  was  required  to  hold.  A 
few  western  politicians,  flaming  with  patriotism  of  their 
own  manufacture,  were  operating  against  him,  filling 
Washington  with  slanders  while  he  "  was  watching  on 
the  distant  lines." 

On  the  2d  of  April,  he  headed  an  expedition  against 
Woodbury,  surprised  a  rebel  camp  there,  and  dispersed 
the  whole  force,  capturing  the  entire  baggage-train,  camp- 
equipage,  and  twenty-five  prisoners.  "  Hazen's  brigade" 
now  became  notorious  throughout  Tennessee  as  invincible. 


A   NIGHT   EXPEDITION. 


503 


Afterwards,  when  Rosecrans  determined  to  flank 
Chattanooga,  by  crossing  the  Tennessee  below  Lookout 
Mountain,  he  placed  about  7,000  troops  under  Hazen, 
with  directions  to  watch  all  the  crossings,  and  make  the 
enemy  believe  that  a  large  army  was  still  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river.  This  force  Hazen  scattered  along  a 
distance  of  seventy  miles,  and  yet  so  skilfully  did  he 
manage  it,  now  by  appearing  with  strong  columns  simul- 
taneously at  different  fords,  and  now  by  the  arrangement 
of  his  camp-fires,  the  beating  of  calls,  and  handling  of  his 
artillery,  that  the  enemy  was  completely  deceived,  until 
the  main  army  was  far  to  the  south  of  him. 

At  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  he  rendered  great  ser- 
vice by  placing,  in  a  critical  moment,  a  heavy  battery 
that  checked  the  advance  of  the  enemy. 

When  Grant  took  command  at  Chattanooga,  and  de- 
termined to  seize  Brown's  Ferry,  nine  miles  below,  by  the 
bend  of  the  river,  in  order  to  shorten  his  land  transporta- 
tion, and  thus  obtain  supplies  to  the  army,  for  which  it 
was  suffering,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  a  base  for  fu- 
ture operations,  he  selected  Hazen  and  his  brigade  for  the 
hazardous  enterprise.  The  south  shore  of  the  river  was 
so  thoroughly  defended,  that  any  attempt  to  throw  a  force 
across  by  pontoon  bridges  was  impracticable.  It  was 
therefore  determined  to  float  fifty  pontoon  boats,  with 
twenty-five  men  and  one  officer  in  each,  making  in  all 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  men,  down  the  stream  by  night, 
and  effect  a  landing  on  the  bank,  and  hold  it  till  a 
force  of  some  four  thousand  men,  concealed  on  the  oppo- 
site shore,  could  be  ferried  over.  The  force  would  then 
be  sufficiently  strong  to  maintain  itself  till  a  pontoon 
bridge  could  be  laid,  over  which  reinforcements  to  any 
required  amount  could  be  sent. 


504  MAJOR-GENERAL    WILLIAII   B.    HAZEN. 

On  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  October,  Hazen  was 
informed  by  the  chief  engineer  of  the  army  cf  the  duty 
to  which  he  had  been  assigned,  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  was  to  be  performed.  That  whole  day  he  spent  in  organ- 
izing his  parties,  and  seeing  that  each  boat  was  put  in 
charge  of  an  officer  that  he  could  rely  upon  with  -the  most 
implicit  confidence.  The  next  morning  he  went  down 
the  north  shore  to  a  point  opposite  where  the  landing  was 
to  be  effected,  and  critically  examined  the  locality.  To 
the  left  of  the  ferry  house  were  two  hills,  which  it  was 
necessary  he  should  occupy,  on  which  there  was  a  rebel 
picket  post,  and  also  one  in  the  hollow  between  them. 
Having  finished  his  examination,  he  arranged  his  plan  of 
operations,  attending  to  everything  personally,  as  the  en- 
terprise was  to  be  a  hazardous  one.  Each  boat  load  of 
twenty-five  men  was  to  carry  two  axes,  making  in  all  a 
hundred ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  crest  of  those  hills  at  the 
ferry  was  reached,  skirmishers  were  to  be  thrown  out,  and 
the  hundred  axes  at  once  set  to  work  felling  trees  to  make 
an  abattis.  He  also  selected  points  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  river,  where,  at  the  proper  time,  signal  fires  were 
to  be  kindled,  to  guide  him  in  effecting  a  landing.  The 
fifty  boats,  made  of  "rough  boards  roughly  nailed  to- 
gether," were  divided  into  four  distinct  commands,  over 
which  tried  and  distinguished  officers  were  placed,  who, 
after  being  fully  instructed  in  the  duties  they  were  ex- 
pected to  perform^  were  taken  down  opposite  the  ferry ; 
and  the  points  of  landing,  and  the  position  of  the  enemy, 
etc.,  all  pointed  out  to  them.  These  in  turn,  just  before 
night,  called  together  the  leaders  of  the  separate  squads, 
and  instructed  them  in  the  parts  they  were  expected  to 
take,  and  how  each  was  to  act  in  the  confusion  that  must, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  exist  in  the  gloom  and  dark- 


A   BRILLIANT   SUCCESS.  505 

ness  of  night^  when  an  attack  was  to  be  momentarily  ex- 
pected. 

Everything  at  last  being  arranged,  the  troops  were 
sent  to  their  tents  to  get  an  early  sleep.  At  midnight 
they  were  awakened  and  marched  to  the  landing,  and 
stowed  away  in  the  boats.  All  at  length  being  loaded,  at 
three  o'clock  the  silent  little  fleet  pushed  off  into  the 
stream,  and  catching  the  current,  drifted  downward  in 
the  gloom.  It  was  necessary  that  the  utmost  silence 
should  be  preserved ;  for,  if  the  enemy  got  wind  of  the 
movement  in  time,  it  would  be  frustrated.  Hazen,  there- 
fore, with  great  gratification,  saw  that  the  force  of  the 
current  alone,  without  the  use  of  oars,  would  take  him  tc 
the  desired  point  of  landing  in  time,  and  consequently 
passed  the  order  that  oars  should  be  dispensed  with — and 
the  boats  without  a  sound  floated  rapidly  down  the  river. 
After  going  three  miles,  they  came  under  the  guns  of  the 
rebel  pickets ;  but  by  keeping  in  the  deep  shadow  of  the 
opposite  shore,  and  maintaining  a  profound  silence,  they 
were  not  discovered,  and  the  hostile  sentinels  slumbered 
on  unconscious  of  danger,  whilst  this  first  step  in  the 
overthrow  of  their  army  was  being  taken.  There  was  no 
moon,  and  the  waters  rippling  by,  gave  no  token  of  what 
was  going  on  out  on  the  dark  bosom  of  the  stream.  The 
boats  passed  undiscovered,  not  only  down  to  opposite  the 
place  of  landing,  but  the  advance  ones  had  actually  taken 
to  their  oars  and  crossed  over,  and  were  within  ten  feet 
or  the  shore  before  any  alarm  was  given.  Seeing  several 
black  masses  rapidly  approaching  the  shore,  the  picket  on 
duty  hailed,  and  receiving  no  answer,  fired  a  volley  and 
sent  back  the  alarm.  Hazen,  now  that  secrecy  was  at  an 
end,  shouted  out  his  orders,  and  the  boats  were  impelled 
by  the  strong  oarsmen  swiftly  to  the  shore.  So  rapid 


506  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

was  the  debarkation,  and  so  perfectly  did  each  party  per- 
form its  separate  duties,  even  in  the  pitchy  darkness, 
that  the  signal  fires  were  scarcely  lighted  on  the  opposite 
bank,  before  the  entire  command  was  drawn  up  in  line 
of  battle.  The  advance  was  made  with  equal  rapidity 
and  exactness,  so  that  Hazen  was  in  position,  his  skir- 
mish line  out,  and  the  axes  ringing  in  the  woods,  before 
the  reinforcement  of  the  enemy — only  a  little  way  over 
the  hill — could  arrive  to  drive  him  back.  A  stubborn 
fight  commenced ;  but  the  boats  had  no  sooner  disgorged 
their  loads,  than  they  were  rowed  swiftly  across  the  river 
to  take  on  board  the  rest  of  the  brigade  that  stood  wait- 
ing, and  which  quickly  crossing,  drove  the  enemy  back. 
A  thousand  rebel  infantry  with  three  pieces  of  artillery, 
.and  a  force  of  cavalry,  were  stationed  here,  which  was 
sufficiently  strong  to  have  prevented  any  landing,  had 
the  enemy  been  prepared  for  it  By  noon  a  pontoon 
bridge  spanned  the  Tennessee  at  this  point,  over  which 
.artillery  and  troops  were  soon  thundering,  and  in  a  short 
•time  Hooker  had  a  firm  grasp  on  Lookout  Valley. 

The  delicate  enterprise  had  been  well  executed,  and 
•Grant  showed  his  sagacity  in  selecting  Hazen's  brigade 
to  perform  it.  Its  drill  was  perfect,  and  hence  it  was 
certain  that  Hazen's  plans  would  move  like  clock-work, 
.and  what  he  ordered  would  be  performed  without  fail. 
This  gloomy  night-ride  down  the  Tennessee,  whose  far- 
ther shore  was  lined  with  the  enemy — the  successful  land- 
ing under  the  blaze  of  signal-fires  and  volleys  of  the 
alarmed  foe — the  formation  of  the  lines  in  the  darkness, 
— the  heavy  strokes  of  the  axe,  and  the  falling  of  trees, 
before  the  gray  twilight  streaked  the  east,  made  up  a 
thrilling  and  picturesque  scene,  and  gave  an  increased 
individuality  and  renown  to  "  Hazen's  brigade." 


A   GALLANT   CHARGE.  507 

In  the  great  battle  that  occurred  a  few  weeks  after, 
this  brigade  was  in  Wood's  division,  which  charged  up 
the  heights  of  Mission  Eidge.  From  where  it  struck  tho 
base  to  the  top  it  was  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  and  very 
steep,  and  swept  by  at  least  fifty  cannon.  In  the  face  of 
this  terrible  fire,  Hazen  toiled  up  the  rugged  ascent,  the 
brigade  stopping  but  twice  to  rest  the  whole  distance.  It 
was  slow  work,  and  the  men  took  it  coolly  till  they  got 
within  almost  a  hundred  yards  of  the  rebel  works,  when 
the  shout  "  Chickamauga"  ran  along  the  lines,  and  then, 
with  one  fierce  yell,  they  cleared,  at  a  bound,  embank- 
ments, ditches,  everything.  The  division  in  its  last 
charge  got  broken  into  squads,  and  Hazen,  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  one  of  only  a  few  hundred  men,  swept 
along  the  ridge  in  front  of  Sheridan's  division,  making  a 
wide  breach  in  the  rebel  line,  which  never  closed  again. 
His  appearance  at  the  head  of  this  gallant  little  band,  as 
he  led  it  along  the  heights,  was  gallant  in  the  extreme. 

As  a  part  of  Granger's  corps,  he  accompanied  Sher- 
man, in  its  long  march  to  relieve  Knoxville,  and  remained 
in  East  Tennessee  till  the  spring. 

When  Sherman  assumed  the  command  of  the  army, 
and  organized  it  for  his  Atlanta  campaign,  Hazen  was 
placed  over  a  division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  under 
Logan,  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  This,  it  is  known, 
executed  most  of  the  flanking  movements,  and  fought 
several  heavy  battles.  We  cannot  follow  him  through  all 
this  long  march  to  Atlanta,  and  afterwards  through 
Georgia,  nor  speak  of  his  gallant  fight  near  Dallas.  Al- 
ways reliable,  he  was  never  called  on  in  vain,  and  never 
failed  to  do  what  was  assigned  him,  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  commander. 

In  August,  he  was  placed  over  the  second  division  of 


508  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

tlie  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  before  Atlanta,  and  bore  liis 
part  in  the  movements  that  resulted  in  the  evacuation  of 
the  place. 

In  the  reorganization  of  the  army  for  the  Georgia 
campaign,  Hazen  was  retained  with  his  division,  num- 
bering between  4,000  and  5,000  men,  for  Sherman  had 
observed  his  conduct  and  knew  he  could  rely  on  him  in 
any  emergency.  But  in  the  long  march  through  Georgia 
nothing  occurred  requiring  any  special  service  of  import- 
ance  from  him  till  Savannah  was  reached,  when  Sherman, 
seeing  that  he  must  open  communication  with  our  fleet  in 
order  to  bring  up  siege  guns,  ammunition,  supplies,  &c., 
determined  to  capture  Fort  McAllister,  on  the  Ogeechee 
and  commanding  its  waters.  Twice  it  had  been  bom- 
barded by  our  ironclads,  but  no  impression  could  be  made 
on  it  seaward,  and  he  must,  therefore,  take  it  by  a  land 
force,  and  Hazen  was  selected  for  the  difficult  enterprise. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  12th  he  sent  for  the  latter  and 
told  him  what  he  wanted  him  to  do.  In  a  half  an  hour 
the  division  was  in  motion,  and  by  night  reached  King's 
Bridge,  ten  miles  distant  from  the  fort,  and  encamped. 
The  next  morning  he  continued  his  march  to  within  a 
mile  of  the  place,  capturing  a  single  horseman,  the  only 
picket  out.  He  now  selected  nine  regiments  for  the  as- 
sault, leaving  the  rest  of  the  division  in  bivouack  at  the 
place  of  Mr.  Middleton.  The  nine  regiments  were  then 
taken  to  within  six  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  which  stood 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Ogeechee,  just  where  the  firm 
land  and  sea  marsh  join,  and  deployed  in  a  thin  line,  ex- 
tending from  the  river  on  the  left  to  the  sea  marsh  on  the 
right.  For  more  than  a  third  of  a  mile  there  stretched 
between  him  and  the  fort  an  open  space,  planted  thick 
with  torpedoes  and  swept  by  the  fire  of  heavy  guns. 


STORMING   FORT   MCALLISTER.  509 

Across  this,  in  open  day,  his  columns  must  be  carried,  not 
to  reach  the  fort,  but  a  wide  thick  abattis,  through  which 
they  would  be  compelled  to  struggle,  all  the  while  swept  by 
a  desolating  fire.  When  this  obstruction  was  passed,  then 
came  a  deep  ditch,  along  the  bottom  of  which  was  driven 
strong,  high  palisades.  This  being  overcome,  then  there 
would  come  the  ramparts  and  the  hand-to-hand  fight 
upon  them. 

The  marsh  on  the  right  was  soft  and  crossed  by 
bayous,  so  that  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  line 
in  that  direction  could  get  in  position.  Hazen,  in  the 
meantime,  sent,  under  cover,  some  sharpshooters  to  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  to  clear  the  parapet  of 
the  gunners. 

The  long  delay  in  getting  the  line  forward  on  the  right, 
filled  Hazen  with  a  good  deal  of  solicitude,  as  well  as 
Sherman  with  anxiety,  as  he  stood  on  the  top  of  a  rice 
mill,  three  miles  off,  and  beheld  the  sun  stooping  to  the 
western  horizon  and  no  advance  made.  Hazen  saw  his 
signal  flying,  "  The  fort  must  be  taken  to-night  at  all  haz- 
ards" and  knew  that  both  he  and  Howard  were  watching 
him  through  their  glasses.  He  was  to  fight  right  under 
the  eyes  of  both  his  commanders,  his  every  motion  watched 
by  one  at  least  whose  praises  would  be  heard  the  world  over. 
He  had  stood  in  many  positions  of  trust  and  peril,  but 
never  in  one  before  where  he  felt  such  a  tremendous  re- 
sponsibility resting  upon  him.  His  countenance  was 
grave  and  stern,  but  set  with  a  resolution  fixed  as  fate. 
At  length,  with  every  nerve  strung  to  the  highest  tension 
by  the  long  suspense,  he  saw  his  line  in  position,  when  he 
called  the  nearest  bugler  to  him,  and  ordered  him  to 
sound  the  "Attention/'1  The  long  drawn  notes  rose  and 
fell  along  the  waiting  line,  and  floated  sweetly  over  the 


510  MAJOR-GENERAL  WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

sunset  waves,  making  every  heart  beat  with  a  quicker 
pulsation.  "  Sound  it  again,"  he  cried ;  and  again  the  well 
known  blast  pealed  over  the  plain,  causing  each  hand  to 
clutch  the  musket  with  a  tighter  clasp.  "Sound  it 
again,"  said  Hazen,  and  for  the  third  time,  the  soft  echoes, 
whose  language  was  well  understood  by  friend  and  foe 
alike,  trembled  along  the  evening  air  and  swept  around 
the  listening  garrison.  "Now,"  exclaimed  Hazen, 
"sound  the  Forward."  The  sharp,  rapid  notes  broke 
in  startling  peals  along  the  excited  line,  thrilling  it  like 
an  electrical  current,  and  in  an  instant  it  bounded  forward 
on  the  double  quick,  and  without  a  moment's  wavering 
swept  onward.  Torpedoes  hid  in  the  sand  and  exploding 
to  the  tread,  tore  many  a  poor  fellow  into  atoms,  and  shells 
burst  in  their  midst;  but  nothing  could  arrest  that  deter- 
mined charge,  and  at  length  they  reached  the  abattis.  Pull- 
ing this  apart,  climbing  over  and  floundering  through  it, 
piled  thick  with  brave  men,  they  at  length  clear  it,  and 
plunge  into  the  ditch.  Seizing  the  strong  palisades 
planted  here,  they  wrench  them  out  by  main  force,  heed- 
ing the  fiery  hail  that  smote  their  heads  no  more  than  if 
they  had  been  rain-drops.  Making  a  gap,  they  pour* 
through  with  shouts  of  defiance,  and  climb  the  parapet. 
A  desperate  hand-to-hand  fight  follows;  but  those  ex- 
cited, maddened  troops  know  that  Sherman  is  watching 
them,  and  ten  times  their  number  could  not  now  stop 
(hem,  and  leaping  within  the  works,  they  trample  the 
garrison  under  their  feet.  Oh,  what  a  shout  went  up 
from  those  bloody  ramparts  then!  while  a  smile  such 
as  heroes  wear,  lit  up  the  face  of  Hazen.  He  had  con*- 
quered,  the  army  was  safe,  and  Savannah  ours. 

Though  the  rebels  fought  desperately,  it  was  all  over 
in  a  few  minutes.     Captain  Clinch,  a  son  of  old  General 


HIS    CHARACTER.  511 

Clinch,  and  brother-in-law  of  Gen.  Robert  Anderson,  com- 
manding a  light  battery,  refused  to  surrender.  Two  bul- 
lets pierced  him,  yet  he  still  clung  to  his  guns ;  three 
times  he  was  bayonetted,  and  though  bleeding  at  every 
pore,  still  refused  to  surrender,  and  was  finally  knocked 
senseless  with  the  butt-end  of  a  musket. 

Just  at  dark,  Sherman  strode  into  the  Fort,  his  face 
aglow  with  enthusiasm,  and  seizing  Hazen  by  the  hand, 
overwhelmed  him  with  praises.  Well  he  might,  for  on 
him  had  rested  in  all  probability,  the  task  of  determining 
whether  that  campaign  should  be  a  success  or  a  failure. 

Hazen  accompanied  the  right  wing  in  its  march 
through  the  Carolinas,  and  after  the  surrender  of  John- 
ston, led  his  division  across  the  country  to  Washington, 
and  took  part  in  the  grand  review  in  the  National 
Capital 

HIS    CHARACTER. 

General  Hazen  is  somewhat  above  the  medium  height, 
strongly  built,  and  has  a  fine  open  manly  face,  which 
inspires  confidence,  yet  wearing  withal  a  resolute  expres- 
sion, indicative  of  his  unconquerable  firmness.  In  look- 
ing on  him-  the  most  common  observer  would  say,  "  there 
is  a  rock-fast  man,  on  whom  a  commander  may  lean  in 
perfect  security."  He  is  a  severe  disciplinarian,  and 
though  remorseless  to  those  who  wilfully  neglect  their 
duty,  is  kind  and  gentle  to  those  who  faithfully  endeavor 
to  perform  it.  With  the  manner  of  a  refined  and  accom- 
plished gentleman  in  social  life,  on  the  field  of  battle  he 
becomes  the  stern,  abrupt  and  relentless  warrior.  With 
an  alertness  that  baffles  every  effort  of  the  enemy  to  take 
him  by  surprise,  he  has  that  "coup  d'ceil "  of  a  battle- 
field that  enables  him  to  seize  every  advantage  which  its 


[>12  MAJOR-GENERAL   WILLIAM   B.    HAZEN. 

varying  fortunes  may  offer.  Rapid  as  lightning  in 
thought  and  action,  he  nevertheless  has  the  firmness  of 
the  most  impassible  nature.  His  fame  is  secure,  and  he 
has  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  he  has  fairly  won  it, 
not  only  by  his  own  great  services,  but  in  spite  of  plotting 
foes  and  hypocritical  politicians,  who  for  years  kept  him 
from  the  double  stars  of  a  Major-General,  but  which  after 
the  gallant  storming  of  Fort  McAllister,  could  no  longer 
be  withheld  from  him. 

In  May  he  was  put  over  the  Fifteenth  Corps. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  FRANZ  SIGEL. 


BIS  NATIVITY — EDUCATED  IN  THE  MILITARY  SCHOOL  AT  CARLSRTTHE — MADB 
ADJUTANT-GENERAL — JOINS  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  GOVERNMENT-— MADE 
MINISTER  OP  WAR — A  MASTERLY  RETREAT — COMPELLED  TO  FLEE  TO 
SWITZERLAND— DRIVEN  FROM  THE  COUNTRY  AND  COMES  TO  THE  UNITED 
STATES — KEEPS  SCHOOL  IN  NEW  YORK — REMOVES  TO  MISSOURI — MADE 
COLONEL  OF  VOLUNTEERS— SERVES  UNDER  LYON— BATTLE  OF  CAR- 
THAGE— A  SKILLFUL  RETREAT — DEFEATED  AT  WILSON'S  CREEK — MADE 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL — HIS  GALLANTRY  AT  PEA  RIDGE — DISSATISFIED 
WITH  HALLECK  AND  RESIGNS — PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  HIS  BEHALF — MADE 
MAJOR-GENERAL  AND  STATIONED  AT  HARPER'S  FERRY — SUPERSEDES  FRE- 
MONT— SERVES  THROUGH  POPE'S  CAMPAIGN — PLACED  OVER  THE  ELEVENTH 
CORPS — GIVEN  COMMAND  OF  THE  SHENANDOAH  DEPARTMENT  BY  GRANT — 
DEFEATED  BY  BRECKENRIDGE — SUPERSEDED  BY  HUNTER— STATIONED  AT 
HARPER'S  FERRY — RESIGNS — BECOMES  EDITOR  OF  A  GERMAN  PAPER  IN 
BALTIMORE. 


GENERAL  SIGEL'S  principal  battles  were  fought  under 
other  commanders  than  Grant  and  Sherman,  yet  as  he 
had  an  independent  command  in  the  great  campaign  of 
the  former  against  Richmond^  he  is  entitled  to  a  place 
amid  his  generals.  Franz  Sigel  is  a  native  of  Germany, 
being  born  at  Zinsheim,  Baden,  November  18th,  1824. 
He  studied  his  profession  in  the  military  school  at  Carls- 
ruhe,  and  such  was  his  standing  and  reputation,  that 
even  in  that  country  of  severe  military  education,  he  was 
made  Adjutant- General  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- three. 


514  MAJOR-GENERAL   FRANZ   SIGEL. 

He  was  now  on  the  high  road  to  preferment  and  distinc- 
tion, but  fired  with  the  republican  sentiments  that  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  the  revolution  of  1848,  he  resigned  his 
commission,  and  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the 
German  struggle.  His  sacrifices,  devotion  and  ability, 
made  him  at  once  a  prominent  leader,  and  the  revolu- 
tionary government  of  Baden  having  determined  to  send 
an  army  into  Hesse  Darmstadt,  to  protect  the  liberals 
there,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  it.  But  when  he  was 
about  to  march,  he  was  superseded  by  Mieroslawski. 
Soon  after  being  made  Minister  of  War,  he  joined  the 
army,  and  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  it  beaten  by 
the  Prince  of  Prussia,  at  Waghausel  and  Ettlingen.  He 
at  once  put  himself  at  its  head,  and  by  a  masterly  retreat 
placed  it  in  the  Fortress  of  Rastadt.  Leaving  it  as  he 
thought  secure,  he  went  alone  into  the  lake  district  of 
Baden,  to  gather  and  concentrate  another  body  of  revo- 
lutionary troops  that  were  scattered  through  that  region. 
But  while  he  was  gone,  the  Prince  of  Prussia  invested 
Rastadt — the  provisional  government  took  to  flight,  and 
the  incipient  revolution  collapsed.  Disheartened  and 
disappointed,  his  ardent  aspirations  for  the  liberty  of  his 
countrymen  all  dashed,  he  withdrew,  a  voluntary  exile, 
into  Switzerland,  crossing  the  frontier  the  llth  of  July, 
1848.  Being  considered  a  dangerous  man  on  account  of 
his  influence  and  strong  republican  principles,  he  was 
expelled  from  the  country,  and  in  1850,  came  to  the  TJnited 
States. 

Dr.  Rudolph  Dulon  had  a  school  at  this  time  in 
Market  street,  New  York,  and  Sigel  secured  a  place  in 
it  as  teacher  of  mathematics,  and  eventually  married  his 
daughter.  In  the  fall  of  1858,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  continued  the  business  of  teaching.  When  the 


BATTLE    OF   CARTHAGE.  515 

war  broke  out  lie  volunteered/ and  was  made  Colonel  of  the 
Third  Missouri  regiment.  He  served  under  the  gallant 
Lyon,  and  took  part  in  the  bold  movement  which  result- 
ed in  the  capture  of  Camp  Jackson.  During  the  sum- 
mer he  was  sent  to  the  southwest  part  of  the  State  to 
look  after  Price  and  Jackson — arriving  in  Springfield  the 
latter  part  of  June.  Hearing  that  they  had  formed  a 
junction,  he  marched  forward,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th  of  July,  came  upon  them  encamped  in  the  open 
prairie  a  few  miles  beyond  Carthage,  and  though  vastly 
inferior  in  numbers,  at  once  gave  battle. 

After  a  sharp  artillery  conflict  he  saw  that  the  enemy 
was  about  to  cut  off  his  trains,  some  three  miles  in  his 
rear,  and  he  ordered  a  retreat.  The  rebels,  however,  got 
around  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  fight  his  way  back 
to  Carthage,  and  through  it.  The  cool  and  skillful  man- 
ner 'in  which  he  handled  his  troops,  and  though  sur- 
rounded by  a  force  five  times  as  great  as  his  own,  brought 
off  his  train,  elevated  him  at  once  to  a  high  place  in  the 
estimation  of  the  people,  and  his  name  became  a  rallying 
cry  for  the  Germans. 

In  his  next  battle,  the  following  month,  he  was  not  so: 
fortunate.  At  Wilson's  Creek,  where  Lyon  fell,  he  was 
sent  by  the  latter  a  circuitous  route  to  reach  the  enemy's 
rear  and  fall  on  them  at  the  same- time  the  main  army  at- 
tacked in  front.  But  mistaking  the  rebels  for  Lyon's 
troops,  he  was  utterly  routed,  losing  nearly  half  of  his 
two  thousand  men  and  five  of  his  six  guns. 

On  August  22d  he  received  the  appointment  of  Briga- 
dier-General— his  commission  dating  back  to  May  17th. 

Fremont,  who  had  just  been  put  over  the  Department, 
gave  him  the  command  of  a  division  in  his  grand  army, 
that,  in  October,  marched  to  the  southwest  in  search  of 

33 


516  MAJOR-GENERAL   FRANZ   SIGEL. 

Price.  Halleck  superseded  Fremont  in  the  next  Febru- 
ary and  gave  him  also  the  command  of  a  division  in  the 
army  of  Curtis,  who  at  once  pursued  the  enemy.  As 
soon  as  the  latter  heard  that  Van  Dorn  and  McCulloch  had 
joined  Price  and  were  preparing  to  give  him  battle,  he 
immediately  began  to  concentrate  his  troops,  which  had 
been  scattered  in  various  directions,  to  capture  rebel  bands. 
Sigel,  at  the  time,  was  at  Bentonville  with  about  one 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  and  in  order  to  join  him,  had 
to  cut  his  way  through  the  enemy,  which  he  did  in  most 
gallant  style. 

Curtis  had  taken  position  on  Pea  Ridge,  and  the  next 
morning  stood  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  awaiting  the 
enemy.  Hearing  that  the  main  force  was  coming  from 
the  westward,  he  sent  out  Sigel  with  his  division  to  meet 
him.  Advancing  for  three  miles,  the  latter  came  upon 
a  portion  of  the  rebel  army,  and  pushed  it  with  such  de- 
termination that  it  at  length  fell  back  for  three  miles. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  the  main  army  had  been 
well  nigh  overwhelmed,  and  when  night  came,  Curtis  sur- 
veyed his  position  with  gloomy  forebodings.  The  enemy 
had  actually  gained  his 'rear,  cutting  off  his  retreat,  thus 
compelling  him  to  change  front,  and  form  an  entirely 
new  line  of  battle.  Sigel,  however,  was  buoyant  and 
confident,  promising  victory  the  next  day.  The  German 
camp  rang  that  night  with  the  songs  of  the  "Father- 
land," and,  like  their  brave  leader,  the  soldiers  seemed  to 
feel  no  solicitude  for  the  morrow.  The  morning  dawned 
murky  and  red,  for  the  smoke  of  the  conflict  the  day  be- 
fore had  settled  down  over  the  field,  through  which  .the 
sun  shone  with  a  lurid  light.  The  battle  soon  opened, 
and  for  two  hours  a  heavy  cannonade  shook  the  heights. 
In  the  meantime,  Sigel,  by  a  skillful  movement,  had  sue- 


GALLANTRY  AT   PEA  RIDGE.  517 

ceeded  in  turning  the  enemy's  flank,  and  now  came  rush- 
ing down  on  him  like  a  torrent.  The  whole  line  at  once 
advanced  in  front  with  loud  cheers,  and  the  rebel  host 
turned  and  fled.  Sigel  immediately  took  up  the  pur- 
suit, and  the  roar  of  his  artillery  rapidly  died  away  in  the 
distance,  as  he  drove  the  enemy  before  him.  Over  fallen 
trees,  across  fields  and  through  the  woods,  the  discomfited, 
panic-stricken  rebels  floundered  in  utter  dismay — SigeFs 
guns  incessantly  playing  on  their  rear,  and  the  shouts  of 
his  men  sending  increased  dismay  through  their  broken 
ranks.  Had  the  country  been  open,  so  that  his  cavalry 
could  have  acted,  nothing  but  the  fragments  of  that  army 
would  have  escaped. 

Sigel's  conduct  in  this  battle  increased  his  fame 
greatly,  and  it  was  predicted  that  he  would  rank  with 
the  most  distinguished  generals  of  the  war.  He,  how- 
ever, could  not  get  along  under  Halleck,  and  after  suffer- 
ing for  a  time  his  ill-treatment,  and  unable  to  obtain  any 
redress,  he  resigned.  This  created  a  storm  of  indigna- 
tion among  the  Germans,  throughout  the  country,  and  a 
public  meeting  was  called  in  New  York,  to  express  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  course  pursued  towards  him,  in 
which  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  lay  them  before  the  President.  The  latter 
replied  that  Halleck  had  never  sent  him  Sigel's  resigna- 
tion, nor  any  official  despatch  in  regard  to  the  difficulties 
between  them.  Moreover,  he  promised  to  see  that  his 
wrongs  were  redressed,  and  the  next  summer  made 
him  major-general,  and  placed  him  in  command  at 
Harper's  Ferry.  Shortly  after,  when  Fremont  refused 
to  serve  under  Pope,  he  was  given  command  of  his  divi- 
sion, and  took  part  in  the  disastrous  campaign  that 
followed. 


518  MAJOR-GENERAL.   FRANZ    SIGEL. 

On  August  29th,  lie  fought  the  battle  of  Groveton 
alone,  till  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  next  da}7, 
also,  his  division  fought  gallantly,  and  then  retired  with 
the  rest  of  the  army  to  the  fortifications  around  Wash- 
ington. 

On  September  14th,  he  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  Eleventh  Corps,  and  in  November,  when  the  army 
suddenly  marched  from  Warrenton  to  Fredericksburg,  oc- 
cupied the  gaps  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  He  afterwards  with- 
drew toward  "Washington,  and  established  his  headquar- 
ters at  Fairfax  Court-House. 

In  the  winter,  when  the  Secretary  of  War  made  his 
annual  report,  he  presented,  with  some  other  letters,  one 
from  General  Pope  to  Halleck,  in  which  Sigel  was  de- 
clared unfit  to  command.  This  was  an  insidious  thrust 
of  his  old  enemy,  and  Sigel,  indignant  at  the  implication, 
demanded  a  court  of  inquiry. 

When  Grant  organized  his  army  for  his  campaign 
against  Richmond,  he  gave  Sigel  a  separate  command, 
and  placed  him  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah  to  pro- 
tect his  flank,  and  in  the  event  of  Lee's  retreating,  to 
advance  up  and  threaten  Lynchburg.  In  carrying  out 
this  plan  he  was  met  near  Newmarket  by  Breckenridge, 
who  at  once  gave  him  battle.  Overpowered  and  defeated, 
he  recrossed  the  Shenandoah,  with  the  loss  of  five  guns 
and  nearly  seven  hundred  men.  He  said  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  long  line  and  trains  that  had  to  be  guarded, 
he  could  bring  into  the  field  but  six  regiments,  be- 
sides the  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  so  fell  back  to  Stras- 
burg.  The  Government,  dissatisfied  with  his  conduct, 
relieved  him  of  the  command,  and  put  Hunter  in  his 
place. 

Sigel  was  now  stationed  at  Harper's  Ferry ;  but  in 


EDITOR   OF  A   PAPER.  519 

the  invasion  of  Early,  during  the  summer,  he  evacuated 
the  place  and  occupied  Maryland  Heights,  on  the  oppo- 
site shore.  This  ended  his  military  career  ;  and  he 
eventually  resigned  his  commission,  and  established  him- 
self in  Baltimore,  as  the  editor  of  a  German  paper, 
called  "  The  Wrecker:'1 


CHAPTEK  XXVI. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  ALFRED  HOWE  TERRY. 


HIS  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION— COUNTY  CLERK— VISITS  EUROPE— COMMANDS  A 
REGIMENT  IN  THE  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN — OCCUPIES  THE  FORT  ON  HILTON 
HEAD  AFTER  ITS  CAPTURE  BY  DUPONT — ASSISTS  GILLMORE  IN  THE  CAP- 
TURE OF  FORT  PULASKI — MADE  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  AND  SENT  TO 
FLORIDA — EXPEDITION  TO  POCOTALIGO — JOINS  GILLMORE  ON  MORRIS 
ISLAND  IN  THE  SIEGE  OF  WAGNER  AND  SUMTER — HIS  SERVICES -UNDER 
BUTLER  AT  DRURY'S  RLUFF — ENGAGED  IN  VARIOUS  ACTIONS  AROUND 
PETERSBURG  AND  RICHMOND — SELECTED  TO  CAPTURE  FORT  FISHER — 
CAPTURE  OF  THE  PLACE— OCCUPIES  WILMINGTON — OPENS  COMMUNICA- 
TION WITH  SHERMAN— MARCHES  TO  GOLDSBORO— HIS  PRESENT  COMMAND 
AND  RANK. 


THE  hero  of  Fort  Fisher  is  one  of  the  few  civilians 
that  have  risen  to  distinction  in  the  army.  He  was  born 
in  Hartford,  Conn.,  Nov.  10th,  1827,  and  receiving  his 
education  at  Yale  College,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1848.  In  1854,  he  became  Clerk  of  the 
County  of  New  Haven,  and  held  the  office  till  June, 
"1860,  when  he  resigned  to  travel  in  Europe.  He  re- 
turned the  following  winter,  to  find  the  country  heaving 
with  the  throes  of  civil  war. 

On  the  first  call  of  the  President  for  75,000  volun- 
teers, he  offered  his  services  to  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  and  was  made  colonel  of  the  Second  Connecticut 


SERVICE   IN   THE    SOUTH.  521 

Regiment.  Repairing  to  Washington,  he  was  placed 
under  Keyes  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  who,  in  his  re- 
port, speaks  of  his  coolness  and  gallantry,  and  the  assist- 
ance he  rendered  him. 

When  the  three  months1  army  disbanded,  he  raised 
anotker  regiment  (the  Seventh)  which  enlisted  for  three 
years.  Being  attached  to  the  Southern  Expedition, 
under  T.  W.  Sherman,  he  was  appointed  by  him  to 
occupy  the  captured  fort  on  Hilton  Head.  During  the 
winter  he  was  stationed  at  Tybee  Island,  and  for  the 
great  services  he  rendered  Gillmore  in  the  herculean 
labor  of  planting  his  batteries  before  Fort  Pulaski,  was 
given  the  honor  of  occupying  the  fort  after  its  surrender. 
The  next  spring  he  was  made  brigadier-general,  and  dur- 
ing the  summer  had  command  of  the  ports  and  forts  on 
the  Atlantic  Coast  of  Florida.  He  was  afterwards  placed 
under  Mitchell,  who  selected  his  and  Brannan's  brigades 
to  destroy  the  railroads  and  railroad  bridges  on  the  Char- 
leston and  Savannah  line,  near  Pocotaligo  and  Coosa- 
hatchie.  The  expedition  was  only  partially  successful, 
but  there  was  some  heavy  fighting,  in  which  Terry  led 
his  brigade  with  a  courage  and  heroism  that  have  always 
distinguished  him. 

He  was  in  command  at  James  Island,  in  the  fight 
there  of  July  16,  1863,  and  afterwards  joined  Gillmore 
on  Morris  Island,  and  assisted  in  the  siege  of  Fort  Wag- 
ner and  Sumter  through  the  summer  and  part  of  the 
autumn. 

The  next  spring,  just  before  Grant  began  his  great 
campaign,  his  division,  as  a  part  of  Gillmore's  Tenth 
Corps,  was  placed  under  Butler,  and  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Drury's  Bluff,  in  which  he  distinguished  him- 
self greatly.  He  commanded  on  the  Bermuda  line  all 


522  MAJOR-GENERAL   ALFRED  HOWE   TERRY. 

through  the  summer,  and  in  September  lay  before  Peters- 
burg. 

We  cannot  go  into,  a  detailed  account  of  the  services 
he  rendered  during  this  long  siege ;  but  in  the  action  of 
New  Market  Heights,  the  last  of  September,  and  at  New 
Market  Roads  the  fore  part  of  October,  and  a  few  days 
after  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  he  exhibited  such  marked 
ability  that  he  attracted  the  particular  attention  of  Grant 
So,  in  the  action  of  Charles  City  Road  in  the  latter  part  of 
October,  he  showed  that  his  long  training  in  the  Southern 
Department  had  developed  him  into  a  finished  military 
leader.  The  energy,  skill,  coolness,  and  tact  he  exhibited 
in  these  engagements  marked  him  out  as  the  proper  man, 
in  Grant's  estimation,  to  do  what  Butler .  had  reported  to 
be  impracticable,  viz.,  to  capture  Fort  Fisher,  which  com- 
manded the  approach  to  Wilmington.  Taking  with  him 
the  same  troops  that  composed  Butler's  Expedition, 
slightly  increased  in  numbers,  he  set  sail  for  the  Cape 
Fear  River,  and  effected  a  landing  on  the  sea-beach, 
about  five  miles  north  of  the  fort,  on  the  12th  day  of  Jan- 
uary. Making  a  defensible  line  here,  he,  on  the  14th, 
laid  out  a  second  line,  and  pushed  a  reconnoissance  to 
within  five  hundred  yards  of  the  fort.  All  this  time 
Porter  was  pounding  away  on  it  from  his  ships,  envelop- 
ing it  in  a  terrific  fire — the  heavy  shell  and  shot  falling  in 
it  for  three  days  without  intermission. 

The  fleet  attacked  in  three  divisions — the  first,  led  by 
the  "  Brooklyn,"  numbered  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
guns ;  the  second,  by  the  "  Minnesota,"  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  guns ;  and  the  third,  composed  of  gunboats, 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  guns — in  all  over 
four  hundred  guns,  and  some  of  them  of  the  largest  cali- 
bre. Never  before  was  a  single  fort  subjected  to  such  a 


STORMING   OF   FORT   FISHER.  523 

fire;  and  under  it,  guns  were  dismounted,  embrasures 
blown  open,  and  traverses  disappeared,  with  marvellous 
rapidity.  So  terrific  was  this  storm  of  fire  that  the  fort 
soon  ceased  to  reply,  and  silent  and  grim,  stood  and  took 
the  beating. 

The  third  day,  Sunday,  was  fixed  for  the  assault, 
which  Terry  arranged  should  be  made  by  three  deployed 
brigades,  following  one  another  about  three  hundred 
yards  apart,  each  to  make  its  last  final  rush  for  the  west 
end  on  the  land  side,  starting  from  a  rough  rifle-pit  about 
three  hundred  yards  distant.  It  was  a  beautiful  Sabbath, 
and  the  sun  shone  calmly  down  on  the  busy  preparations 
going  on  all  the  forenoon,  and  on  the  tossing  clouds  of 
smoke  that  incessantly  rolled  up  from  the  water.  Three 
o'clock  was  fixed  upon  for  the  assault,  and  for  three  hours 
previous  the  fleet  poured  in  a  concentric  fire  upon  the  fort, 
so  rapid  and  terrible,  that  it  seemed  as  if,  when  the  smoke 
lifted,  nothing  but  a  heap  of  ruins  would  remain — but  the 
earth  parapets  twenty-five  feet  thick  remained  apparently 
firm  as  ever.  These  were  twenty  feet  high  and  surrounded 
by  a  strong  palisade  Nearly  two  hundred  yards  in  ad- 
vance of  this  was  strung  a  line  of  torpedoes  eighty  feet 
apart — each  containing  a  hundred  pounds  of  powder 
and  connected  by  three  sets  of  wires.  Fortunately,  the 
shot  from  the  fleet  had  cut  the  sets  leading  to  those 
that  lay  in  the  path  of  the  assaulting  columns,  or 
perhaps  a  different  result  would  have  followed.  But 
these  being  rendered  harmless,  and  the  palisades  pretty 
well  crushed  by  the  same  fire,  the  assaulting  col- 
umns had  nearly  a  clean  sweep  to  the  ramparts,  though 
in  some  places  the  palisades  had  to  be  cut  away  and 
beaten  down  with  heavy  timbers. 

Everything  being  ready,  the  signal  was  given,  and  the 


524  MAJOR-GENERAL   ALFRED    HOWE    TERRY. 

brigades  bounded  forward.  Reaching  the  works,  the  men 
began  to  scale  them,  while  at  the  same  time  an  assault  by 
the  sailors  on  the  water  side  was  being  made.  The  mo- 
ment our  shouting  troops  mounted  the  ramparts  a  most 
terrific  hand-to-hand  fight  followed.  But  soon  from  the 
top  floated  our  flag,  and  beside  it  the  blue  flag  of  Terry. 
Still  the  fort  was  far  from  being  won.  The  high  ram- 
parts had  swallowed  up  the  combatants,  yet  from  out  the 
interior  arose  muffled  shouts  and  curses,  and  incessant 
vollies  of  musketry,  showing  that  the  work  of  death  was 
going  on  within.  Winning  their  bloody  way  from 
traverse  to  traverse,  our  troops  fought  their  way  steadily 
forward  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  Darkness  at  length 
wrapped  sea  and  land ;  yet  still  the  desperate  struggle 
went  on,  and  death  held  high  carnival  in  the  crowded  pas- 
sages. All  this  time  the  ponderous  shells  of  the  fleet 
were  exploding  in  the  farther  end — and  between  the  ca- 
nopy of  fire  without  and  the  raging  hell  within,  that  fort 
presented  a  strange  spectacle  in  the  gloom  of  that  Sabbath 
evening. 

The  garrison,  though  fighting  bravely,  were  driven 
back  step  by  step,  leaving  the  record  of  their  struggle  in 
the  rows  of  dead  men  that  lay  pale  and  ghastly  in  the  un- 
certain gleams  of  light.  At  length,  at  half-past  nine 
o'clock,  there  came  up  from  out  its  bosom  a  loud,  long 
cheer,  and  then  Terry's  signal  torches  flamed  from  the 
sunonit,  announcing  to  Porter  that  the  place  was  won. 
Rockets  were  at  once  sent  up  from  the  flag-ship,  and  as 
they  streamed  through  the  sky,  announced  to  the 
fleet  the  glorious  news,  and  cheers  from  the  ships  and 
cheers  from  the  fort  replied  till  the  midnight  air  flamed 
and  trembled  above  with  light  and  joy. 

It  was  a  great  victory,  but  its  triumph  was  dashed  the 


THE   VICTORY.  525 

next  morning  by  the  sudden  blowing-up  of  the  main  maga- 
zine in  the  fort,  by  which  nearly  two  hundred  of  the 
brave  men  who  had  so  nobly  faced  death  the  night  before 
were  killed  or  maimed. 

The  garrison,  when  driven  from  the  fort,  retreated 
down  the  peninsula  to  the  cover  of  some  works  near  the 
inlet,  but,  farther  resistance  being  useless,  surrendered. 
Five  hundred  were  found  dead  in  the  fort  and  two  thou- 
sand were  taken  prisoners. 

It  seems  astonishing  that  such  an  impregnable  fortress 
as  this,  with  a  garrison  of  twenty-five  hundred  men,  could 
be  taken.  The  parapets  were  twenty  feet  high,  with  tra- 
verses ten  or  twelve  feet  thick,  and  ten  feet  high,  rising 
above  them.  Between  each  pair  of  traverses  guns  were 
placed,  while  fifty  feet  in  front  of  the  outer  slope  ran  a 
loop-holed  palisade.  These  traverses  were  bomb-proofed, 
and  on  the  middle  one  two  field  pieces  were  so  placed  as 
to  sweep  the  curtain.  Comstock,  who  was  the  Engineer- 
in-Chief  of  the  expedition,  says,  "  That  in  thirty  bomb- 
proofs  and  magazines  and  their  passages  there  were 
fourteen  thousand  five  hundred  feet  of  floor  space,  not  in- 
cluding the  main  magazine  that  was  blown  up,  and  whose 
dimensions  were  unknown/1 

No  wonder  that  we  lost  nearly  a  thousand  men  in 
carrying  such  a  formidable  stronghold.  Both  Terry  and 
his  troops  deserve  immortal  honor:  the  former  for  the 
skilful  manner  in  which  he  planned  the  assault,  and  the 
latter  for  their  unparalleled  heroism,  not  only  in  dashing 
against  such  an  impregnable  work,  but  for  fighting  nearly 
seven  hours  in  darkness  and  uncertainty,  till  victory  was 
won.  This  great  success  took  the  country  by  surprise ; 
for,  with  the  return  of  Butler,  it  was  supposed  the  at- 
tempt to  capture  the  place  was  abandoned.  It  was  also 


526  MAJOR-GENERAL   ALFRED   HOWE   TERRY. 

felt  to  be  a  heavy  blow  to  the  Confederacy,  for  Wilmington 
was  the  chief  port  of  blockade  runners,  by  which  a  vast 
amount  of  cotton  went  out,  and  war  material,  and  food, 
and  clothing  came  in. 

Still,  for  ourselves,  we  confess  that  the  assault,  made 
at  the  time  it  was,  needs  more  explanation  than  we  can 
furnish.  Grant  knew,  when  Sherman  left  Atlanta,  that 
Goldsboro'  was  his  objective  point — he  knew,  also,  that 
he  was  then  about  starting  from  Savannah  for  it,  and 
that  before  he  reached  Fayetteville,  Wilmington,  lying 
a  hundred  miles  to  the  southeast,  would  be  evacuated.  The 
enemy  could  no  more  hold  this  place  with  Sherman 
marching  on  Fayetteville,  than  it  could  hold  Charleston 
when  he  was  marching  on  Columbia.  In  staort,  Wil-. 
mington  must  have  fallen  of  itself  if  Sherman's  march 
was  not  arrested. 

Finding  Fort  Fisher  gone,  the  rebels  blew -up  Fort 
Caswell,  and  retreated  to  Wilmington. 

In  the  meantime,  Schofield  with  a  large  force,  took 
command  here,  and  the  next  month,  in  conjunction  with 
Porter,  moved  against  Fort  Anderson,  just  below  Wil- 
mington. The  rebel  commander,  however,  did  not  wait 
to  be  attacked,  but  evacuated  it  and  retreated  north,  fol- 
lowed by  Schofield  and  Terry,  and  the  city,  with  all  its 
treasures,  fell  into  our  hands. 

Schofield  now  transferring  his  force  to  Newbern,  so  as 
to  cooperate  up  the  Neuse  with  Sherman  as  he  advanced 
toward  Goldsboro1,  Terry  remained  at  Wilmington  to 
open  communication  with  him  at  Fayetteville. 

When  Sherman  finally  left  the  latter  place  and  moved 
on  Bentonville,  Terry  followed  after,  taking  up  Howard's 
trains  that  he  had  left  in  his  hurry  to  aid  Slocum,  and 
reached  Cox's  Bridge,  tenmiles  above  Goldsboro',  about 


HIS   CHARACTER.  527 

the  time  Schofield  reached  the  place;  thus  holding  the 
Neuse  Kiver. 

Terry  was  made  major-general  of  volunteers,  and 
brigadier-general  in  the  army,  on  the  15th  of  January, 
directly  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher.  He  is  now 
brevet  major-general  in  the  army,  and  commands  the 
Virginia  department,  with  headquarters  at  Richmond. 

Of  the  few  civilians  that  have  reached  high  positions 
in  the  firmy,  he  is  the  most  prominent ;  and  it  is  veiy 
evident  that  he  has  at  last  got  into  the  profession  for 
which  nature  designed  him.  His  military  qualities  are  of 
the  very  highest  order,  and  he  exhibits  a  remarkable  union 
of  dash  and  daring,  with  calm  thought,  and  deliberate 
action.  He  has  never  yet  had  an  opportunity  to  exhibit 
his  military  excellence  fully — having,  for  most  of  his  ca- 
reer, acted  in  a  subordinate  capacity;  but  that  he  is  a 
man  of  extraordinary  capacity,  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that,  of  all  the  leaders  in  the  grand  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, Grant  selected  him  for  one  of  the  most  desperate 
and  hazardous  enterprises  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  ALEXANDER  McCLERNAND. 


HIS  NATIVITY  AND  EAKLY  LIFE — STUDIES  LAW — VOLUNTEERS  TO  FIGHT  THE 
INDIANS — EMBARKS  IN  TKADE — ESTABLISHES  A  DEMOCRATIC  PAPER,  AND 
OPENS  A  LAW  OFFICE — ENTERS  ON  A  POLITICAL  LIFE — RESIGNS  HIS  SEAT 
IN  CONGRESS,  AND  RAISES  A  BRIGADE — HIS  GALLANTRY  AT  BELMONT — 
CAIRO  EXPEDITION — BATTLE  OF  FORT  DONELSON — BRAVERY  AT  SHILOH — 
PLACED  OVER  SHERMAN — CAPTURES  ARKANSAS  POST — LEADS  THE  AD- 
VANCE IN  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG — HIS  GREAT  SERVICES — ASSAULT 
OF  VICKSBURG — HIS  ORDER  AND  LETTER  TO  GOVERNOR  YATES — IS  RE- 
MOVED BY  GRANT — HIS  CHARACTER. 


UP  to  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  no  general  in  the  army 
had  been  a  steadier  companion  or  more  intimate  friend 
of  Grant  than  McClernand.  They  started  together  in 
their  military  career — fought  side  by  side,  and  entertained 
the  highest  regard  for  each  other. 

John  Alexander  McClernand  was  born  in  Brecken- 
ridge  Co.,  Kentucky,  May  30,  1&12.  But  his  father 
dying  when  he  was  only  four  years  old,  his  mother  re- 
moved to  Shawneetown,  111.,  where  the  son  worked  on  a 
farm.  Feeling  himself,  however,  capable  of  reaching  a 
higher  position  than  this,  he,  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
commenced  the  study  of  law,  and  in  1832  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  But  instead  of  entering  on  his  profession, 
carried  away  by  his  military  spirit,  he  volunteered  in  the 


GALLANTRY  AT  BELMONT.  529 

war  against  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  His  health  being  poor, 
he,  on  his  return,  embarked  in  trade ;  but  soon  becoming 
dissatisfied  with  this,  he  established  a  paper  called  the 
" Shawneetown  Democrat"  and,  at  the  same  time,  re- 
sumed the  practice  of  the  law. 

The  next  year,  1836,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
of  the  State,  in  which  he  served  also  in  1840  and  1842. 
The  year  following  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  his 
district,  and  his  first  speech  in  the  Hall  of  Representa- 
tives was  upon  the  bill  to  remit  the  fine  imposed  upon 
General  Jackson  by  Judge  Hall  of  New  Orleans.  In 
1846  and  1848  he  was  again  elected.  In  1858  he  acted  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  resolutions  in  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Convention,  called  to  sustain  Senator  Doug- 
las in  his  course  on  the  Lecompton  bill.  In  1860  he  was 
the  third  time  returned  to  Congress,  and  served  through 
that  stormy  period  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when 
he  resigned,  and,  with  Logan  and  Foulke,  both  members 
of  Congress,  returned  to  Illinois  and  raised  the  McCler- 
nand  brigade,  of  which  he  took  command.  In  the  battle 
of  Belmont  he  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  and  had  a 
horse  shot  under  him.  Just  as  the  victorious  troops  were 
rushing  forward  among  the  rebel  tents,  he  heard  firing 
down  by  the  river,  and,  galloping  thither,  found  a  com- 
pany closely  engaged  with  a  detachment  of  the  enemy. 
The  firing  was  very  hot,  and  as  McClernand  rode  into  it, 
his  head  was  grazed  by  a  ball,  his  horse  wounded  in  the 
shoulder  and  his  housings  torn  in  several  places. 

At  length,  when  he  found  the  camp  cleared  of  the 
enemy,  he  called  for  three  cheers  for  the  Union,  which 
were  given  with  a  will. 

"When  it  was  discovered  that  the  enemy  had  crossed 
a  large  force  between  our  troops  and  their  transports  up 


530       MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   ALEXANDER   McCLERNAND. 

the  river,  thereby  rendering  a  retreat  necessary,  McCler- 
nand immediately  ordered  Colonel  Logan  to  advance  his 
flag  to  the  front,  and  be  prepared  to  cut  his  way  through. 
In  the  fight  that  followed,  his  horse  received  another  shot. 
His  bearing  in  this,  his  first  battle,  was  gallant  and 
chivalric,  and  Grant,  in  his  despatch,  says,  "General 
McClernand  (who,  by  the  way,  acted  with  great  coolness 
and  courage  throughout,  and  proved  that  he  is  a  soldier 
as  well  as  statesman,)  and  pay  self  each  had  our  horses  shot 
under  us." 

In  a  subsequent  expedition,  made  in  midwinter  to- 
ward Columbus,  McClernand  marched  his  troops  seventy- 
five  miles  over  a  detestable  country,  carrying  out  his 
orders  faithfully. 

He  served  under  Grant  in  the  expedition  against 
Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  and  in  the  investment  of  the 
latter  place  commanded  the  right  wing,  composed  of  three 
brigades,  that  rested  on  the  river,  above  the  works.  It 
was  on  him  that  the  grand  assault  was  made  by  the 
enemy,  when  he  endeavored  to  cut  his  way  through  our 
lines.  Forced  back  by  overwhelming  numbers,  he  des- 
perately contested  every  inch  of  ground,  while  he  sent 
off  for  reinforcements,  and  finally  succeeded  in  driving 
back  the  enemy  to  his  entrenchments.  That  evening,  he 
advanced  his  lines  over  the  blood-stained  snow,  and  stood 
ready  to  assault  the  works  early  in  the  morning,  when  he 
received  the  news  that  the  place  had  surrendered. 

At  Pittsburg  Landing,  previous  to  the  battle,  he,  with 
Sherman  and  Prentiss,  held  the  advance  line,  and  hence 
caught  the  first  burst  of  the  storm  on  that  fearful  Sabbath 
morning.  He  lay  a  little  in  the  rear  of  Sherman,  and 
hence  had  time  to  prepare  for  the  onset,  that  swept  every- 
thing before  it.  As  the  latter  began  to  fall  back,  he  sent  up 


BRAVERY  AT   SHILOH.  531 

reinforcements  to  him,  by  which  he  himself  was  so  weaken- 
ed that,  when  attacked  in  turn,  he  was  compelled  to  change 
front,  under  a  heavy  fire.  By  so  doing,  though  he  had 
gone  into  action  at  seven  o'clock,  he  was  able  to  hold  the 
Corinth  road  till  ten.  But  at  length  being  outflanked 
and  overpowered,  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back,  which  he 
did  slowly  and  in  good  order ;  ever  and  anon  turning 
and  charging  on  the  enemy,  with  a  fury  that  arrested  his 
progress.  Thus,  charging,  retreating,  halting,  and  bleed- 
ing, he  continued  to  fall  back  till  he  reached  Hurlbut, 
in  the  rear.  Rallying  here,  he  with  his  right  swept 
round  and  drove  the  enemy  for  a  considerable  distance ; 
but,  with  the  rest  of  the  army,  he  was  finally  borne  hope- 
lessly towards  the  Tennessee. 

The  next  day  he  led  his  exhausted  troops  gallantly 
into  the  fight,  and  four  times  regained  and  lost  again  the 
ground  in  his  front,  and  bore  himself  nobly  through- 
out, fairly  winning  over  again  the  double  star  of  major- 
general,  which  he  had  received  the  month  before. 

He  was  with  Halleck,  in  the  operations  that  resulted 
in  the  evacuation  of  Corinth,  and  afterward  continued  to 
serve  under  Grant. 

In  the  following  winter  Grant  made  his  first  demon- 
stration against  Vickburg,  by  sending  Sherman  to  assault 
it.  On  its  failure  he  ordered  McClernand  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  army,  who  divided  it  into  two  corps,  placing 
one  under  Sherman  and  the  other  under  General  Morgan, 
the  hero  of  Cumberland  Gap.  On  the  4th  of  January 
he  sailed  on  an  expedition  against  Fort  Hindman,  or 
Arkansas  Post,  as  it  was  called,  which  formed  the  key  to 
the  extensive  country  drained  by  the  Arkansas  River. 
Reaching  the  mouth  of  the  White  River  on  the  8th,  he 

moved  the  transports  up  it  to  the  cut-off,  and  for  the  pur- 
34 


532       MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN   ALEXANDER   MoCLERNAND. 

pose  of  deceiving  the  enemy,  landed  his  troops  the  next 
evening  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  three  miles  below 
the  fort  The  country  was  entirely  new  to  him,  and  he 
spent  the  following  morning  in  reconnoitring.  Sherman 
was  finally  sent  with  his  corps  to  make  a  detour,  for  the 
purpose  of  investing  the  upper  side  of  the  fort,  who. 
marching  inland,  crossed  a  swamp  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
wide,  and  then  ascertained  that  the  works  could  not  be 
approached  in  that  direction,  but  by  a  circuit  so  wide  that 
it  would  practically  leave  him  out  in  the  designed  as- 
sault. Reporting  his  position  to  McClernand,  the  latter 
crossed  the  swamp,  and,  ascertaining  the  exact  state 
of  things,  recalled  him,  and  sent  him  up  the  river  to 
join  the  other  forces.  Admiral  Porter,  with  a  squadron 
<o£  gunboats,  accompanied  the  expedition,  and  he  now 
directed  him  to  open  fire  on  the  rebel  works  in  order  to 
distract  the  attention  of  the  garrison,  while  the  army  was 
getting  irfto  position.  Porter  moved  up  at  once,  and  soon 
the  swamps  and  forests  that  bordered  the  Arkansas  River 
-echoed  with  the  thunder  of  his  guns,  which  kept  up  a 
terrific  fire  till  the  wintry  night  closed  over  the  landscape. 
It  had  been  a  day  of  constant  marching  to  the  troops,  and 
night  found  the  place  still  not  completely  invested.  It 
was  cold  and  chilly,  and  the  troops  lay  down  in  the  dark- 
ness without  fire  or  tents,  to  get  such  rest  as  they  could, 
while  all  night  long  the  rapid  strokes  of  the  axe  inland 
told  that  the  rebels  were  busy  felling  trees  to  obstruct  their 
advance. 

The  next  morning  dawned  bright  and  pleasant,  and  by 
half-past  ten,  McClernand  had  his  army  in  position,  ready 
to  advance,  and  sent  word  to  Porter  to  open  fire.  At 
one  o'clock  the  gunboats  moved  boldly  up  and  rained 
such  a  horrible  tempest  on  the  fort,  that  the  guns  on  the 


ARKANSAS   POST.  533 

river  side  were  soon  nearly  all  silenced,  the  casemates 
tumbled  in,  and  wreck  and  ruin  spread  around.  On  the 
land  side,  the  cannonading  and  musketry  grew  more  furi- 
ous every  hour,  while  closer  and  closer  drew  the  long  lines 
of  infantry,  preparing,  when  the  order  "forward ! "  should  be 
given,  to  leap  over  abbatis,  ditch,  ramparts  and  all.  The 
sun  was  hanging  just  above  the  western  horizon,  and  the 
wintry  Sabbath  was  drawing  rapidly  to  a  close,  and  Mo- 
Clernand  was  just  ready  to  give  the  order"  to  advance  to 
the  assault,  when  a  white  flag  rose  above  the  works.  The 
uproar  of  the  guns  suddenly  ceased,  and  in  its  place  there 
went  up  deafening  cheers,  that,  rolling  down  the  line, 
were  caught  up  by  the  transports  and  sent  back,  till,  for 
miles,  the  woods  and  banks  echoed  with  shouts. 

Our  loss  in  this  attack  was  about  a  thousand,  while 
McClernand  reported  five  thousand  prisoners  captured, 
with  seventeen  pieces  of  cannon,  and  three  thousand  stand 
of  arms,  besides  ammunition,  shot  and  shell,  and  animals, 
and  war  material  in  great  quantities. 

This  victory,  coming  on  the  heels  of  Sherman's  defeat 
before  Vicksburg,  was  hailed  with  delight,  and  McCler- 
nand was  quoted  as  an  instance  of  a  great  General  rising 
from  the  ranks  of  civil  life. 

A  few  weeks  after,  Grant  commenced  his  great  and 
decisive  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  and  McClernand 
moved  down  the  Mississippi  to  take  part  in  it.  The  force 
under  him  consisted  of  four  divisions  of  the  Thirteenth 
Army  Corps.  After  the  various  fruitless  attempts  by 
canals  and  inland  waters  to  get  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg, 
Grant  determined,  as  a  last  resort,  to  march  his  army 
below  it  on  the  western  shore,  andMcClernand's  corps  took 
the  advance.  As  a  first  step  he  sent  forward  Osterhaua 
to  capture  Richmond,  the  capital  of  Madison  Parish. 


534       MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   ALEXANDER   McCLERNAND. 

Louisiana.  By  ten  o'clock  he  had  reached  the  bayou  in 
front  of  the  place,  and  at  once  opened  fire  upon  it.  In 
the  meantime,  boats  had  been  brought  along  in  wagons, 
which  were  quickly  hauled  out  and  launched.  A  part  of 
the  cavalry  at  once  dismounted  and,  springing  in,  paddled 
themselves  across  with  the  butts  of  their  muskets.  The 
other  portion  plunged  into  the  water,  and  swimming  their 
horses  over,  mounted,  with  loud  cheers,  the  opposite  bank, 
when  the  terrified  rebels  fled  in  every  direction. 

During  that  night  McClernand  built  a  bridge  with  his 
pioneer  corps,  under  Captain  Patterson,  two  hundred  feet 
long,  made  entirely  of  the  logs  taken  from  the  adjacent 
houses.  The  columns  marched  over,  but  the  difficulties  of 
the  route  had  but  just  commenced.  "  Old  roads  had  to  be 
repaired,  new  ones  made,  boats  constructed  for  the  trans- 
portation of  men  and  supplies,  t  twenty  miles  of  levee 
sleeplessly  guarded  day  and  night,  and  every  possible  pre- 
caution taken  to  prevent  the  rising  flood  from  breaking 
through  the  levee  and  engulfing  us."  The  rebel  cavalry 
were  also  hovering  around,  but,  being  at  last  driven  across 
the  Bayou  Vidal,  McClernand,  on  the  4th  of  April,  em- 
barked in  a  skiif,  and,  accompanied  by  Osterhaus  and  his 
staff,  rowed  down  to  within  half  a  mile  of  Carthage  and 
the  Mississippi  River.  Fired  upon  by  the  enemy,  the 
skiff  was  brought  to  a  halt,  but  not  until  he  ascertained 
that  the  levee  had  been  cut,  and  the  water,  in  three  cur- 
rents, was  pouring  through,  flooding  all  the  country. 
Capturing  a  flat-boat,  he  mounted  it  with  two  howitzers, 
and,  embarking  a  party,  sent  it  down  to  drive  the  enemy 
out  of  Carthage,  which  they  succeeded  in  doing.  But 
Carthage  had  to  be  abandoned,  for  want  of  the  means  of 
transportation,  and  a  lower  point  for  crossing  the  river 
reached. 


CAPTURES   PORT   GIBSON.  535 

In  this  inarch,  McClernand  constructed  nearly  two 
thousand  feet  of  bridging  out  of  material  created,  for  the 
most  part,  on  the  occasion — -completing,  in  three  days 
and  nights,  the  great  military  road  across  the  Peninsula, 
from  the  Mississippi  River  to  a  point  forty  miles  below 
Vicksburg. 

When  Porter  moved  to  the  attack  on  Grand  Gulf, 
McClernand  embarked  a  part  of  his  force  to  occupy  it 
the  moment  the  enemy  was  driven  out.  But  the  place 
could  not  be  taken,  and  so  he  disembarked  his  troops,  and 
continued  his  march  inland,  to  a  point  opposite  Bruins- 
burg.  Crossing  the  river  here,  he  halted  only  long 
enough  to  distribute  three  days'  rations,  when  he  took  up 
his  march  for  the  bluffs,  three  miles  back.  Beaching 
these  at  sunset,  he  determined  to  make  a  forced  march 
that  night  to  Port  Gibson.  A  little  after  midpight  he 
came  upon  the  enemy — tlieir  presence  and  position  being 
announced  by  the  blaze  of  their  artillery,  lighting  up  the 
strange  landscape.  Reaching  the  front  at  daylight,  Me- 
Clernand  immediately  prepared  for  battle,  and  advanced 
up  the  two  roads  that  forked  off  here — both  leading  to 
Port  Gibson.  The  conflict  raged  along  these  roads  all 
day,  but  at  night  the  enemy  retreated,  and  at  daylight 
next  morning  McClernand's  advance  entered  Port  Gib- 
son. To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  this  first  victory  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mississippi. 

For  thirteen  days  McClernand  now  steadily  marched 
inland ;  a  part  of  the  time  engaged  with  the  enemy,  and 
all  the  time  without  tents  or  regular  teams,  and  with  but 
six  days1  rations — being  compelled  to  get  the  rest  of  his 
supplies  from  the  country  through  which  he  was  moving. 

At  the  battle  of  Champion  Hill,  Hovey's  division  of 
his  corps  covered  itself  with  glory.  From  this  point, 


536        MAJOR-GENERAL   JOHN   ALEXANDER   McCLERNAND. 

McClernand  took   the    advance   in   the  march  toward 
Vicksburg. 

In  the  grand  assault  on  the  place,  on  tfee  22d,  his 
corps  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  Early  in  the  morning,  he 
opened  with  his  artillery,  numbering  about  forty  pieces, 
and  kept  up  a  rapid,  effective  fire,  until  five  minutes  be- 
fore ten  o'clock,  when  the  bugle  sounded  the  "forward." 
His  columns  then  moved  in  dead  silence,  with  fixed  bayo- 
nets, to  the  assault,  and  "  within  fifteen  minutes  Lowber's 
and  Lendrum's  brigades  had  carried  the  ditch,  slope,  and 
bastion  of  a  fort."  Reporting  his  success  to  Grant,  he 
said  that  he  was  within  the  refyel  works,  and  needed  rein- 
forcements. The  assault,  which  had  been  abandoned,  was 
^renewed  on  his  representations,  by  which,  Grant  declared 
he  sustained  his  greatest  loss.  This  offended  McClernand, 
and  not  long  after  he  issued  a  congratulatory  order,  in 
which  he  recounted  the  services  of  his  corps  in  the  long 
marches  and  battles  from  Milliken's  Bend  to  Vicksburg. 
Immediately  after,  Grant  removed  him  from  the  com- 
mand of  his  corps,  and  put  Ord  in  his  place.  We  sus- 
pect, however,  his  removal  was  not  owing,  as  reported,  so 
much  to  the  order,  as  to  a  letter  which  McClernand  wrote 
to  Governor  Yates  in  his  own  vindication,  in  which  he 
not  only  censured  others,  but  claimed  that  if  he  had  been 
properly  reinforced  Vicksburg  might  have  been  captured. 

This  ended  McClernand's  services  in  the  field,  and 
caused  a  disruption  of  the  friendship  between  him  and 
Grant,  much  to  be  regretted. 

Occupying  the  first  rank  among  those  major-generals 
who  had  been  appointed  from  civil  life,  McClernand  had 
shown  an  aptitude  for  command  possessed  by  few.  Ner- 
vous and  excitable,  yet  cool  and  steady,  he  handled  his 
troops  with  great  skill  and  success,  and  bade  fair  to  stand 


HIS   CHARACTER.  537 

in  the  first  rank  of  commanders.  The  high  opinion  which 
Grant  had  of  him  is  seen  in  his  putting  Sherman  under  him, 
after  the  repulse  of  the  latter- before  Vicksburg,  in  1863 
Without  any  military  education,  he  rose  by  the  force  of 
his  own  talents  to  one  of  the  most  prominent  positions  in 
the  country.  A  life-long  Democrat,  he  was  stoutly  op- 
posed throughout  the  war  to  the  confiscation  and  emanci- 
pation policy  of  the  administration  ;  but  bravely  drew  his 
sword,  and  freely  offered  his  life  for  the  defence  of  his 
country. 


CHAPTER   XXVHL 

MAJOR-GENERAL  OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD. 


HAVELOCK  OF  THE  ARMY — HIS  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  EDUCATION — AT  "WEST 
POINTS-SENT  TO  FLORIDA — HIS  CONVERSION — JOINS  THE  METHODIST 
CHURCH — APPOINTED  INSTRUCTOR  AT  WEST  POINT — SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  SABBATH  SCHOOL — ESTABLISHES  A  PRAYER  MEETING  AND  BIBLE 
CLASS — RESIGNS  AND  IS  APPOINTED  COLONEL  OF  A  MAINE  REGIMENT — 
COMMANDS  A  BRIGADE  AT  BULL  RUN — MADE  BRIGADIER — LOSES  AN 
ARM  AT  FAIR  OAKS — GALLANTRY  AT  ANTIETAM — HIS  DEFEAT  AT 
CHANCELLORSVILLE — HIS  GREAT  SERVICES  AT  GETTYSBURG SENT  WEST 

.  TO  REINFORCE  ROSECRANS  —  LOOKOUT  VALLEY  —  MISSION  RIDGE  — 
SERVES  UNDER  HOOKER  IN  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— SUCCEEDS  MC- 
PHERSON  IN  THE  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE — COM- 
MANDS THE  RIGHT  WING  IN  THE  GEORGIA  CAMPAIGN  AND  THE  CAM- 
PAIGN OF  THE  CAROLINAS— PLACED  OVER  THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU — 
HIS  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER — ABILITIES  AS  A  GENERAL — ANECDOTES  OF 


As  in  the  terrible  revolt  in  India,  the  English  army 
had  its  Havelock,  so  we  in  our  frightful  revolution  have 
had  our  Howard.  Although  there  always  have  been 
many  officers  of  various  grades  in  our  navy  or  army  who 
were  Christians,  yet  neither  is  considered  as  favorable  to 
the  highest  development  of  Christian  character.  Indeed, 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  man  so  truly  devotional 
as  Havelock,  could  love  the  profession  of  arms.  It  seems 
equally  strange  that  one  engrossed  with  military  duties, 
and  surrounded  with  associations  of  camp  life,  should  ex- 


CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  539 

hibit  the  Christian  graces  far  more  brightly  than  most 
men  whose  occupations  necessarily  keep  them  constantly 
under  religious  influences.  But  whether  on  the  march  or 
battle-field,  or  surrounded  by  gay  and  reckless  officers, 
Howard  has  so  maintained  his  Christian  character,  that 
he  is  known  throughout  the  army  and  nation  as  the 
"  Christian  soldier." 

He  was  born  in  Leeds,  Maine,  November  8th,  1830, 
so  that  he  was  barely  thirty  years  of  age  when  the  war 
broke  out,  and  hence  is  still  a  young  man.  He  received 
a  liberal  education,  having  graduated  at  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege, when  but  twenty  years  of  age.  From  college  he 
went  directly  to  West  Point,  where  he  graduated  in  1854, 
and  was  appointed  Brevet  Second  Lieutenant  of  Ord- 
nance, and  sent  to  Florida.  Here  he  became  a  changed 
man,  and  renouncing  the  world,  accepted  Christ  as  his 
Saviour,  and  from  that  time  meekly  "took  up  his  cross  and 
followed  Him."  He  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Mr.  Lyons,  a 
Methodist  clergyman,  and  joined  the  Methodist  Church, 
on  probation.  The  same  year  he  was  made  first  lieuten- 
ant, and  was  appointed  Instructor  of  Mathematics  at 
West  Point,  where  he  remained  till  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  Here  he  became  distinguished,  not  only  for  the  able 
and  faithful  performance  of  his  duties,  but  for  his  interest 
in  religious  affairs.  He  was  superintendent  of  a  Sabbath- 
school,  and  had  cadet  prayer-meetings  twice  a  week,  and 
also  a  Bible-class  of  soldiers  and  citizens.  He  has  two 
younger  brothers — one  of  whom  is  a  clergyman,  and  the 
other,  though  now  a  colonel  in  the  army,  designs  to  be 
one.  There  must  have  beeA  remarkable  home  influences, 
to  give  such  a  religious  bias  to  a  whole  family  of  boys. 

In  June,  1861,  he  resigned  his  commission  to  take 
command  of  the  Third  Maine  Volunteers.  The  regiment 


540  MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER   OTIS   HOWARD. 

was  composed  of  hardy  men — some  of  them  stalwart  lum- 
bermen from  the  back- woods ;  and  they  felt  a  little  uneasy  at 
being  commanded  by  a  West  Point  officer.  But  they 
were  quite  confounded  when,  after  making  them  an  ad- 
dress, the  young  man  took  off  his  hat  and  led  them  in 
prayer.  A  swearing  colonel,  most  could  understand ; 
but  a  praying  one  was  a  novelty  they  did  not  expect  to 
see.  He,  however,  worked  his  way  into  their  affections 
rapidly,  for  they  soon  found  he  was  not  a  canting  fanatic ; 
but  a  true,  noble,  conscientious,  and  thorough  officer. 

In  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  he  commanded  a  brigade, 
and  bore  himself  so  gallantly,  that  in  September  he  was 
made  brigadier-general,  and  assigned  a  brigade  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  accompanied  it  to  the  Pen- 
insula, and  at  the  battle  of  Pair  Oaks  had  his  right 
arm  carried  away  by  a  cannon  shot.  His  brigade  belonged 
to  Richardson's  division,  that  came  across  the  flooded 
Chickahominy  to  the  rescue  of  the  hard-pressed  army. 
In  the  opening  of  the  second  day's  fight  his  brigade  was 
put  in  front,  and  he  held  it  steadily  within  half  musket 
shot  of  the  hostile  line.  It  was  deadly  work ;  and  he 
saw  that  he  could  keep  his  men  to  it  only  by  great  per- 
sonal efforts  and  daring.  Riding,  therefore,  backward 
and  forward  along  the  lines,  with  the  bullets  screaming 
around  him,  he  roused  them  by  stirring  appeals,  and  the 
reckless  exposure  of  his  own  person.  He  knew  that  it 
would  be  a  miracle  if  he  escaped,  yet  he  determined  that 
the  brigade  should  stand  firm  while  he  stood.  His  staff 
closed  around  him  ;  but  soon  one,  then  another  fell — his 
own  brother  being  struck  down  by  his  side — yet  he  still 
kept  riding  through  the  fire.  At  last,  however,  a  cannon 
ball,  in  full  sweep,  carried  away  his  arm.  It  is  said  that 
he  shook  the  mutilated,  bleeding  stump  in  front  of  his 


AT   CHANCELLORSVILLE.  541 

brigade,  and  urged  them  to  stand  firm,  and  behave  like 
men.  As  he  was  borne  pale  and  bleeding  from  the  field, 
he  passed  the  one-armed  Kearney,  and  jokingly  said : 
"  General,  we  will  hereafter  buy  gloves  together.11 

This  took  him  from  the  field  during  the  rest  of  the 
Peninsular  campaign,  but  in  September,  when  McClellan 
organized  his  Maryland  campaign,  he  was  again  in  the 
saddle.  Being  in  Sedgewick's  division,  he  was  in  the  ter- 
1  rible  battle  fought  by  Hooker  on  the  right,  and  nobly  sus- 
tained the  reputation  he  had  won  for  steady  courage,  and 
chivalrous  daring.  When  Sedgewick  was  borne  wounded 
to  the  rear,  he  assumed  command  of  the  division. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1863,  he*  was  placed  over  the 
Eleventh  Corps,  which,  in  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville, 
was  placed  on  the  extreme  right,  and  facing  three  ways,  to 
prevent  a  flank  attack.  All  through  Friday  night  he 
heard  a  confused  sound  in  the  woods  south  and  west  of 
him — the  rumbling  of  wagons,  ceaseless  strokes  of  the 
axe,  and  the  hum  of  human  voices,  but  did  not  dream 
the  rebel  army  was  cutting  its  way  to  his  right  flank.  In 
the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  he  received  orders  from 
Hooker  to  reinforce  Sickles  with  a  brigade.  He  immedi- 
ately led  it  over  in  person.  Biding  back  to  headquarters, 
he  had  just  dismounted,  when  two  cannon  shot  to  the 
right,  followed  almost  instantly  by  a  tremendous  crash  of 
musketry,  accompanied  with  terrific  yells,  told  him  that 
the  enemy  were  attacking  his  right.  Springing  to  the 
saddle,  he  galloped  to  the  spot,  but  came  too  late,  for  the 
First  German  Brigade  had  already  given  way,  followed  by 
the  shouting,  infuriated  foe.  He  endeavored  to  check  the 
panic,  but  in  an  instant  it  was  communicated  to  other 
brigades,  and  the  confused,  broken  mass,  came  tearing 
over  the  field  in  wild  terror.  He  threw  himself  in  their 


542  MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER  OTIS   HOWARD. 

front,  and  ordered,  threatened,  and  begged  them  to  stop 
and  face  the  enemy,  but  he  talked  to  deaf  men:  the 
whole  division  was  borne  away  like  a  loosened  torrent, 
leaving  him  almost  alone.  The  agony  of  a  life-time  was 
compressed  into  his  brave  heart  in  that  terrible  moment 
Two  divisions  on  the  left  still  held  their  ground,  and  he 
galloped  to  them,  and  for  a  few  moments  made  a  show  of 
resistance ;  but  it  was  only  for  a  moment,  and  away  went 
the  whole  corps  in  a  wild,  uncontrollable  panic.  Through 
the  troops  in  the  rear,  through  the  crowd  of  teamsters, 
ambulances,  wagons,  and  artillery,  they  broke — Jackson's 
veterans,  like  a  roaring  flood,  thundering  at  their  heels. 
Howard  was  overwhelmed  at  the  spectacle :  he  had  never 
expected  to  see  Bull  Run  over  again,  but  here  it  was. 
Utterly  helpless  to  stay  the  torrent,  he  was  borne  away 
with  it.  If,  by  giving  up  his  life,  he  could  have  arrested 
that  awful  disorder,  he  would  have  poured  it  out  like 
water;  but  the  whirlwind  that  swept  past  him  was  be- 
yond human  control.  The 'sun  now  stooping  behind  the 
western  woods,  and  the  coming  on  of  darkness,  added  in- 
creased gloom  and  terror  to  the  scene.  For  a  moment  it 
seemed  that  the  whole  army  must  go  to  swift  destruction 
with  the  broken  right  wing ;  but  Sickles,  and  Berry,  and 
Whipple,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  the  maddened  torrent 
was  stopped. 

That  was  the  saddest  night  of  Howard's  life ;  but  rous- 
ing himself  to  the  magnitude  of  the  task  before  him,  he, 
by  almost  superhuman  exertions,  succeeded  before  morning 
in  reorganizing  his  corps,  so  that  it  was  again  put  in  line 
of  battle  on  the  extreme  left ;  in  fact,  he  rallied  a  portion 
before  midnight,  and  led  them  forward  to  the  support  of 
Berry. 

On  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the  enemy  tried  his  lines 


AT   GETTYSBURG.  543 

several  times,  but  without  effect.  When  he  took  this  po- 
sition, he  asked  for  the  Sixty-fourth  New  York  Regiment, 
which  bore  itself  so  bravely  at  Fair  Oaks.  It  was 
given  him,  and  as  he  rode  out  to  meet  it,  the  gallant  fel- 
lows greeted  him  with  a  cheer.  With  pride  he  watched 
their  bold  and  steady  tread,  and  knew  there  would  be  no 
flinching  where  they  stood.  Posting  them  behind  the 
brigade  that  was  the  first  to  break  on  Saturday  night,  he 
gave  orders  to  shoot  down  remorselessly  every  man  that 
attempted  to  run.  Determined  that  another  such  disgrace 
should  not  overtake  him,  he  kept  the  front  line  continually 
under  his  eye ;  hence  he  became  a  target  for  the  sharp- 
shooters, that  again  and  again  sent  their  bullets  whistling 
around  his  ears,  and  it  was  a  marvel  that  he  was  not  hit. 

Howard  felt  the  disgrace  of  his  corps  keenly,  though 
no  blame  was  attached  to  him.  Instead  of  being  abused, 
he  received  the  warmest  sympathy ;  for  all  who  knew  his 
gallant,  noble  nature,  felt  that  he  had  suffered  beyond  the 
power  of  expression. 

He  resolved  that  in  the  next  battle,  the  corps  should 
wipe  out  the  disgrace  that  clung  to  it,  and  he  told  it  so, 
and  a  few  months  later,  at  Gettysburg,  it  did.  On  Wed- 
nesday, when  Reynolds,  with  the  First  Corps,  suddenly 
came  upon  the  enemy  at  this  place,  he,  with  the  Eleventh, 
was  several  miles  in  the  rear,  marching  leisurely  forward. 
The  former,  on  finding  himself  confronted  by  a  superior 
force,  sent  back  to  the  latter  to  hasten  forward.  He  did 
so,  though  he  was  compelled  to  take  bye- ways,  as  the 
main  road  was  blocked  by  the  trains  of  the  First  Corps. 
The  sound  of  battle  in  the  distance  hastened  his  inarch, 
for -it  was  evident  that  Reynolds  was  heavily  engaged. 

Spurring  on  in  advance  of  his  troops,  Howard,  with 
his  staff,  arrived  on  the  field  at  one  o'clock,  and  took  a 


544  MAJOR-GENERAL  OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD. 

rapid  survey  of  the  condition  of  affairs.  Soon  after,  the 
heads  of  his  columns  appeared  in  view,  and  Reynolds 
having  previously  fallen,  he  assumed  command  of  both 
corps,  and  arranged  his  line  of  battle.  The  enemy  boldly 
advancing,  attacked  him  with  desperate  fury,  but  could 
not  force  him  back  until  Ewell's  corps  came  to  their  help 
(the  old  troops  of  Jackson),  and  swinging  in,  in  front  of 
the  Eleventh,  charged  down  with  their  old  battle  cry. 
The  corps,  having  its  lost  name  to  retrieve,  bore  up  man- 
fully against  the  shock;  but  pressed  by  overwhelming 
numbers,  was  at  length  driven  back,  though  this  time 
not  in  panic. 

Howard  now  retreated  through  the  town,  and  reform- 
ing his  disordered  lines  on  Cemetery  Hill,  opened  his  bat- 
teries on  the  enemy,  and  stopped  his  further  progress. 
Here  Hancock,  sent  forward  by  Meade,  found  him,  and 
the  two  agreed  that  right  there  the  great  battle  should  be 
fought. 

The  next  day,  he,  with  his  corps,  held  this  hill,  form- 
ing the  centre  of  the  line  of  battle ;  and  during  all  the 
time  the  rebel  attack  was  pressed  on  the  left,  its  summit 
smoked  and  trembled  with  his  artillery.  About  half 
an  hour  after  sunset  the  enemy  assaulted  his  position,  but 
were  driven  back. 

The  next  morning  brought  a  renewal  of  the  contest, 
and  rebel  shells  and  shot  soon  ploughed  up  the  graveyard 
in  which  Howard  had  taken  up  his  headquarters.  Re- 
clining on  a  green  hillock  close  beside  a  tombstone,  with 
his  staff  about  him,  he  steadily  watched  the  progress  of 
the  fight.  The  still  graves  around  him,  and  the  shrieking 
of  shells  overhead,  reminded  him  of  death,  yet  the  marble 
slab  near  which  he  reclined,  was  not  more  tranquil  than 
he.  As  a  minie  ball  whizzed  past  his  head,  one  of 


A  TERRIBLE   REPULSE,  545 

those  near  him  unconsciously  dodged,  but  not  a  motion 
of  his  indicated  that  he  heard  it.  The  next  might  pierce 
his  heart,  but  the  thought  gave  him  no  uneasiness,  for  he 
had  placed  his  life  in  the  hands  of  his  Maker,  and  reposed 
it  serenely  there. 

In  the  afternoon,  when  Lee,  previous  to  his  last  des- 
perate assault,  opened  with  nearly  two  hundred  cannon 
on  our  lines,  Cemetery  Hill  was  subjected  to  a  horrible 
fire.  Shells  ploughed  up  the  graves,  splintered  the  tomb- 
stones, and  sent  the  earth  flying  in  every  direction ;  but 
Howard  never  moved  his  headquarters  an  inch.  Cali» 
as  the  dead  slumbering  beneath  his  feet,  he  sat  amid  the 
desolating  fire,  striving  to  pierce  "the  war-cloud  rolling 
dun"  beneath  him,  and  detect  the  movements  of  the 
enemy.  When  the  awful  cannonade  ceased,  and  the 
rebel  lines  came  on  in  the  last  desperate  charge,  Howard 
ordered  his  men  to  lie  down,  an<J  his  batteries  to  cease 
firing.  The  rebels  thought  they  had  been  silenced,  and 
advanced  confidently,  when  suddenly  the  whole  corps 
sprang  to  its  feet  as  one  man,  and  poured  in  an  over- 
whelming volley,  while  the  batteries  opened  again  on  the 
shaking  lines,  rending  the  solid  formations  like  gossamer. 
Howard  at  the  same  time  ordered  a  charge,  and  away 
went  the  whole  line.  The  rebels  stunned  and  appalled 
by  the  awful  destruction  that  suddenly  engulfed  them, 
threw  down  their  arms  by  companies,  and  one  whole 
regiment  surrendered  in  mass.  The  Eleventh  had  re- 
deemed itself,  and  Howard  gazed  with  pride  on  his  vic- 
torious troops.  Seeing  Hancock's  corps  sorely  pressed, 
the  rebel  flags  being  actually  planted  on  his  works,  he 
opened  a  terrible  enfilading  fire  on  the  exposed  ranks 
from  his  batteries,  that  nothing  human  could  endure,  and 
the  whole  rebel  line  fell  bleeding  back,  and  victory  was 


546  MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER   OTIS   HOWARD. 

ours.  That  was  a  proud  day  for  Howard ;  the  disgrace 
of  Chancellor sville  was  wiped  out,  and  his  corps  once 
more  worthy  to  stand  in  the  noble  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. 

His  and  Slocum's  corps  were  both  detached  from  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  a  little  while  after  this  battle,  and 
despatched  to  Chattanooga  to  reinforce  Rosecrans,  whc 
was  heavily  pressed  by  Bragg. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  Sherman  across  the  country 
from  Mississippi,  Hooker,  who  was  put  in  command  of 
the  two  corps,  crossed  the  Tennessee  on  the  pontoon  bridge, 
laid  by  Hazen,  in  order  to  take  possession  of  Lookout 
Valley.  Howard's  corps  at  once  moved  up  towards 
Brown's  Ferry,  his  winding  columns  in  full  view  of  the 
enemy  on  the  lofty  heights  above,  who  tried  in  vain  to 
cut  them  in  two  with  their  shells.  About  six  o'clock  that 
night  (the  26th  of  October,)  he  went  into  camp  a  short 
distance  from  the  Ferry,  the  other  columns  led  by  Geary, 
having  encamped  three  miles  back.  In  the  interval  be- 
tween them,  the  enemy's  sharp-shooters  now  penetrated, 
firing  into  our  trains  across  the  river,  and  he  sent  out 
three  companies  to  scatter  or  capture  them,  and  then 
made  his  final  dispositions  for  the  night.  The  autumnal 
evening  passed  quietly  away,  and  the  camp  slumbered  in 
repose  until  midnight,  when  a  dropping  fire  of  musketry 
from  skirmishing  parties  aroused  him.  It,  however,  did 
not  increase;  but  an  hour  later  his  ear  caught — three 
miles  away  towards  Geary — the  muffled  sound  of  rapid, 
heavy  musketry  firing.  It  was  plain  that  the  enemy  was 
making  a  fierce  onslaught  on  him,  and  ordering  the  drums 
to  beat  to  arms,  he  started  oif  Schurz'  division  on  the 
double  quick  through  the  gloom.  The  rattling  of  their 
arms  and  rapid  measured  beat  of  their  tread  had  hardly 


LOOKOUT    VALLEY.  547 

died  away  in  the  distance,  when  another  division  followed 
after,  and  "forward!"  "forward!"  rang  through  the  night 
air,  while  down  through  the  Valley  rushed  the  panting 
columns.  But  before  they  reached  Geary,  while  sweeping 
on  a  run  along  the  base  of  a  ridge  two  hundred  feet  high, 
a  sheet  of  flame  suddenly  burst  upon  them  from  its  sides 
and  top.  The  force  here  being  on  their  flank  must  be  dis- 
lodged before  proceeding  farther,  and  Colonel  O.  Smith 
wheeled  about,  and  charging  up  the  cliff,  almost  inaccessi- 
ble by  daylight,  and  through  the  underbrush,  upon  un- 
known numbers,  carried  the  heights  with  loud  shouts. 
Geary,  though  at  one  time  nearly  surrounded,  after  three 
hours  of  desperate  fighting,  drove  back  the  enemy,  which 
now  retired  to  Lookout  Mountain,  and  the  important 
Valley  was  in  our  possession. 

In  the  after  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  Howard,  under  Sherman,  bore  his 
part  gallantly  and  well.  In  November  he  received  his 
commission  as  Major- General. 

In  the  Atlanta  campaign  the  next  spring  he  main- 
tained his  old  renown,  winning  at  every  step  the  increas- 
ing confidence  of  Sherman. 

In  the  fierce  onslaught  of  the  rebels  upon  our  lines- 
before  Atlanta,  on  the  28th  of  July,  which  has  already 
been  described,  Howard,  who  had  been  placed  over  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  after  the  death  of  McPherson, 
held  it  to  the  frightful  struggle  with  a  steadiness  and  hero- 
ism never  before  excelled. 

His  last  fight  in  this  campaign  was  at  Jonesboro, 
whither  on  the  Macon  Road  Sherman  had  transferred  his- 
army,  thus  securing  the  fall  of  Atlanta.  Sherman,  in 
placing  Howard  over  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  showed 
his  high  appreciation  ofjiis  capacity.  He  was  sorry  to- 

35 


548  MAJOR-GENERAL    OLIVER   OTIS    HOWARD. 

slight  Hooker,  but  knowing  precisely  what  kind  of  lieu- 
tenants he  wanted,  and  perceiving,  with  wonderful  sagaci- 
ty the  qualities  of  the  officers  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
he  was  able  to  select  just  the  leaders  that  he  could  most 
rely  on  in  the  hazardous  experiment  he  was  about  to  try. 

In  the  following  autumn,  when  he  had  pursued  Hood 
till  he  was  so  far  back  towards  the  Tennessee  that  he  could 
not  trouble  him  in  his  anticipated  movement  across 
Georgia,  he  sat  down  one  day  on  his  camp-stool  in  front 
of  his  tent  at  Gaylesville,  and  rapidly  ran  his  finger  over 
the  map  resting  on  his  knee,  while  Howard  and  Slocum 
stood  beside  him.  After  studying  it  awhile  he  planted 
his  finger  on  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  and  looking  up 
to  Howard,  to  the  no  small  astonishment  of  the  latter, 
quietly  remarked,  "  Howard,  I  believe  we  can  go  there 
without  any  serious  difficulty.  If  we  can  cross  the  Salka- 
hatchie,  we  can  capture  Columbia."  Then  running  his 
finger  northward,  over  rivers  and  swamps,  he  continued, 
as  he  stopped  it  at  Goldsboro,  "  That  point  is  a  few  days1 
march  through  a  rich  country,  and  when  I  reach  it  Lee 
must  leave  Virginia  or  be  destroyed.  We  can  make  this 
march,  for  Grant  tells  me  that  Lee  can't  get  away  from 
Richmond  without  him."  Sherman  then  unfolded  his 
plans  to  these  two  generals,  for  he  had  already  determined 
that  they  should  command  the  two  wings  of  his  army  in 
this  long  and  hazardous  march. 

Howard  commanded  the  right  wing  in  the  Georgia 
campaign,  the  movements  of  which  are  given  in  detail  in 
the  sketch  of  Ealpatrick,  whose  cavalry  did  the  principal 
fighting  on  the  way  to  Savannah. 

When  Sherman  commenced,  in  January,  his  march 
north  through  the  Carolinas,  the  right  wing  under  Howard 
was  carried  in  transports  to  Beaufort  and  thence  taken  to 


IN   THE    CAROLINAS.  549 

the  main  land,  from  whence  it  advanced  along  the 
Charleston  Railroad  and  occupied  Pocotaligo.  Here  he 
was  stopped  awhile  by  torrents  of  rain,  which  flooded  all 
the  low  ground,  and  the  novel  spectacle  was  witnessed  of 
soldiers  doing  picket  duty  in  boats  and  scows. 

By  the  last  of  January  the  waters  had  sufficiently 
subsided,  and  the  Seventeenth  and  Fifteenth  Corps 
moved  in  parallel  roads,  in  the  direction  of  McPherson- 
ville,  Howard  being  in  person  with  the  former.  The 
enemy  held  the  lines  of  the  Salkahatchie  in  force,  but 
Howard,  with  small  loss,  succeeded  in  carrying  River's 
Bridge  by  sending  a  pajrt  of  his  force  through  a  swamp 
three  miles  wide — the  cold  water  of  which  was  never  less 
than  knee-deep,  and  often  reaching  to  the  shoulders. 
Across  this,  lifting  their  muskets  above  their  heads,  the 
soldiers  forced  their  way,  while  still  farther  down,  Giles 
E.  Smith  swam  his  division  over,  and  thus  secured  this 
formidable  line  of  the  enemy. 

Howard  now  pushed  rapidly  north  toward  the  rail- 
road connecting  Augusta  and  Charleston,  and  reaching  it 
near  Midway,  spent  three  days  in  destroying  it.  Pushing 
on  between  the  divided  forces  of  the  enemy — one  part  be- 
ing in  and  near  Augusta  to  the  westward,  and  the  other 
at  Branchville  and  Charleston  to  the  eastward — he  cross- 
ed the  South  Fork  of  the  Edisto,  and  marched  rapidly 
for  Orangeburg.  Leaving  Branchville  and  Columbia  on 
his  right,  he,  from  this  place,  advanced  straight  on  Co- 
lumbia. By  the  16th  of  February,  he  was  in  front  of  the 
capital,  and  he  and  Sherman  crossed  the  pontoon  bridge 
that .  had  been  laid,  side  by  side,  and  entered  the  con- 
quered place.  The  fire  was  already  raging  which  the 
rebels  had  kindled  to  destroy  the  cotton,  and  the  flames, 
fed  by  a  tempest  of  wind  that  swept  in  fearful  gusts 


550  MAJOR-GENERAL    OLIVER    OTIS    HOWARD. 

through  the  streets,  soon  kindled  a  terrible  conflagration 
that  laid  the  place  in  ruins.  Howard  was  up  all  night 
laboring  nobly  to  check  the  fire,  and  protect  the  distracted 
families  that  were  turned  homeless  and  houseless  into  the 
streets.  From  Columbia,  he  first  marched  north  toward 
Charlotte,  and  then  struck  east  for  Fayetteville,  which  he 
reached  on  the  llth  of  March.  Heavy  rains  had  set  in, 
which  made  his  march  a  most  difficult  and  wasting  one 
to  his  men.  At  Lynch  Creek,  he  spent  three  days  in 
getting  through  a  swamp,  building  for  miles  and  miles  a 
corduroy  road  over  mud,  into  which  the  first  layer  of 
timber  would  sink  out  of  sight.  At  Cheraw  he  captured 
twenty-five  cannon. 

In  marching  from  Fayetteville  to  Goldsboro,  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  his  trains,  and  hasten  across  the 
country  to  the  aid  of  Slocum,  who  had  the  whole  rebel 
army  on  his  hands  at  Bentonville.  The  part  he  took 
in  that  engagement  is  given  in  the  article  on  Slocum. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  armies  and  the  close 
of  the  war,  Howard  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau,  at  Washington — and  there  never  was  a 
more  striking  instance  of  putting  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place  than  this  appointment.  Firm,  yet  concili- 
atory— -just  and  kind  to  the  poor  slave,  yet  without  that 
blind  fanaticism  which  some  men  designate  philanthropy, 
he  will  adjust  the  difficulties  connected  with  this  unfortu- 
nate race,  if  it  can  be  done  at  all.  As  a  general,  How- 
ard possesses  great  tactical  knowledge,  and  there  is  no 
man  probably  in  the  army  who  takes  in  so  quickly  all  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  field  on  which  he  is 
to  operate.  The  intuition  almost,  which  prompted  him  to 
seize  Cemetery  Hill,  and  hold  it,  and  thus  give  us  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  is  an  evidence  of  this.  A  battle  is 


HIS    CHARACTER.  551 

as  often  won  by  the  proper  disposition  of  the  forces  as  by 
hard  fighting,  and  in  this  he  excels — though  he  is  behind 
none,  in  the  tenacity  with  which  he  holds  his  ground, 
and  the  fierceness  of  his  onsets.  Major  Nichols,  who  ac- 
companied him  from  Atlanta  to  Goldsboro,  says  of  him, 
"  General  Howard  is  a  man  whose  religious  convictions 
are  intense,  positive,  entering  into,  and  coloring  every  event 
of  his  life.  When  exposed  to  fire,  there  is  no  braver  man 
living  than  he.  He  does  not  go  into  action  in  the  Crom- 
wellian  spirit,  singing  psalms,  and  uttering  prayers,  but 
with  a  cool  and  quiet  determination  which  is  inspired  by 
a  lofty  sense  of  a  sacred  duty  to  be  performed.  His 
courage  is  a  realization  of  the  strength  of  a  spiritual  re- 
ligion, rather  than  a  physical  qualification.  The  general 
is  constantly  censured  for  rashly  exposing  himself  to  the 
fire  of  the  enemy,  but  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the 
censure  is  just  or  not,  for  every  commander  of  a  corps  of 
an  army  is  the  best  judge  of  the  necessities  of  the  hour." 

His  personal  appearance  corresponds  with  his  moral  na- 
ture, for  his  face  beams  with  kind  and  tender  feeling,  and 
one  cannot  look  into  those  affectionate  eyes  without  loving 
their  possessor.  Yet,  with  all  this  expression  of  gentle- 
ness, kindness,  and  patience,  there  is  combined  one  of 
manly  resolution  and  firmness  of  purpose,  that  reveals 
the  great  leader.  There  is  little  profanity  around  his 
headquarters.  Once  hearing  a  soldier  swearing  fiercely 
in  the  full  blaze  of  the  enemy's  fire,  he  said  gently, 
"  Don't  swear  so,  my  man.  You  may  be  killed  at  any 
moment.  Surely  you  do  not  wish  to  go  into  the  next 
world  with  dreadful  oaths  on  your  lips."  On  another 
occasion,  while  walking  in  the  forest  alone,  he  came  upon 
two  men  quarrelling  and  swearing  roundly,  when  he 
approached  them  and  said,  u  Men,  I  am  sorry  you 


552  MAJOR-GENERAL    OLIVER    OTIS    HOWARD. 

had  such  bad  mothers.1'  They  regarded  him  curiously, 
then  looked  at  each  other,  when  one  of  them,  casting  his 
eyes  to  the  ground,  said  doggedly,  "  I  had  not  a  bad 
mother  !  She  was  a  good  woman ! "  "  But,"  replied  the 
general,  "she  taught  you  to  swear!"  "No,  indeed," 
protested  the  soldier,  "  she  did  not  teach  me  to  swear, 
she  always  punished  me  for  swearing ! "  "  And  mine 
also,"  cried  the  other,  as  if  doing  some  brave  and  meri- 
torious deed,  and  the  rough  soldiers  became  like  little 
children,  while  vindicating  the  names  and  memories  of 
their  cherished  mothers ;  the  recollections  or  remembrances 
of  whom  no  doubt  were  the  only  oases  in  their  depraved 
hearts.  Howard  was  not  slow  in  taking  advantage  of 
their  melting  mood,  and  exacted  a  promise  of  reforma- 
tion. Noble,  generous  to  a  fault,  and  brave,  he  wins  all 
hearts  by  the  power  of  love — yet  in  the  crash  of  the  onset, 
and  the  tumult  of  a  doubtful  fight,  he  is  the  impersona- 
tion of  cool  courage,  and  terrible  as  a  storm.  To  see  him 
riding  along  the  perilous  edge  of  battle,  all  heedless  of  the 
screaming  shot  and  shell,  waving  that  empty  sleeve  aloft 
as  a  banner  to  his  men,  is  enough  to  make  heroes  of  cow- 
ards, and  shame  the  last  vestige  of  a  craven  spirit  out-  of 
the  most  sordid  wretch  on  earth.  It  is  a  glory  to  any 
nation  to  have  such  a  man  at  the  head  of  its  armies,  while 
his  whole  life  is  a  sermon  preached  to  the  government,  the 
army,  and  the  people. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  QUINCY  ADAMS  GILLMORE. 

HIS  EARLY  LIFE — WEST  POINT — SENT  TO  FORTRESS  MONROE — A  TEACHER  AT 
WEST  POINT — STATIONED  IN  NEW  YORK — CHIEF  ENGINEER  OF  THE  EX- 
PEDITION TO  PORT  ROYAL — HERCULEAN  OPERATIONS  AROUND  PULASKI — 
CAPTURE  OF  THE  FORT — COMMANDS  IN  WESTERN  VIRGINIA — PLACED 
OVER  THE  SOUTHERN  DEPARTMENT — ASSAULT  OF  FORT  WAGNER — BOM- 
BARDMENT OF  SUMTER — CAPTURE  OF  FORT  WAGNER — CHARLESTON 
SHELLED — ORDERED  NORTH  TO  CO-OPERATE  WITH  BUTLER  BELOW  RICH- 
MOND— HIS  SERVICES  IN  THE  FIELD — ASKS  TO  BE  RELIEVED  FROM 
SERVING  UNDER  BUTLER — ORDERED  TO  REPORT  TO  CANBY — PLACED 
AGAIN  OVER  THE  SOUTHERN  DEPARTMENT — CO-OPERATES  WITH  SHER- 
MAN. 

FEW  military  men  reach  such  an  eminence  as  General 
Gillmore  occupies,  without  ever  having  fought  a  pitched 
battle  or  won  a  great  victory  in  the  field.  His  victories 
have  been  those  of  practical  military  science  alone ;  but 
these  have  been  so  wonderful  as  to  make  his  name  known 
over  the  civilized  world* 

He  was  born  at  Black  Hiver,  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  in 
1825.  Having  obtained  the  appointment  of  cadet  in  the 
West  Point  Military  Academy,  he  graduated  in  1849,  at 
the  head  of  his  class.  Appointed  First  Lieutenant,  he 
was  sent  to  Hampton  Roads  and  labored  on  the  fortifica- 
tions there  for  three  years.  He  was  then  made  assistant 
professor  of  practical  engineering  at  West  Point,  and  for 


554  MAJOR-GENERAL    QUINCY   ADAMS    GILLMORE. 

four  years  fulfilled  the  duties  of  this  position  with  signal 
ability,  acting  also  during  the  last  year  as  quartermaster 
and  treasurer  of  the  Military  Academy. 

From  1856  to  1861  he  resided  in  New  York  city, 
where  he  was  stationed  to  purchase  and  send  on  supplies 
for  the  various  fortifications  scattered  over  our  broad  ter- 
ritory. 

In  the  fall  of  1861,  when  the  great  expedition  was 
fitted  out  against  Port  Royal,  he  was  appointed  chief 
engineer,  under  General  T.  W.  Sherman,  and  after  the 
victory  of  Dupont,  superintended  the  construction  of 
the  fortifications,  &c.,  at  Hilton  Head.  The  task  next 
assigned  him  was  the  reduction  of  Fort  Pulaski  on 
Cockspur  Island.  Batteries  on  various  neighboring 
islands  were  erected,  amid  difficulties  that  to  a  common 
observer  would  have  seemed  insurmountable.  One  or 
two  extracts  from  Gillmore's  journal,  will  give  a  better  idea 
of  them  than  a  long  description : 

"Feb.  11.  Continued  getting  battery  and  road  ma- 
terials to  Jones1  Island  during  the  day.  *  *  *  The 
work  was  .  done  in  the  following  manner :  The  pieces 
mounted  on  their  carriages  and  limbered  up  were  moved 
forward  on  shifting  runways  of  planks  laid  end  to  end. 
Each  party  in  charge  of  the  guns  had  one  pair  of  planks 
in  excess  of  the  number  required,  and  timbers  to  rest 
upon  when  closed  together.  This  extra  pair  of  planks 
being  placed  in  front  in  prolongation  of  those  already 
under  the  carriages,  the  pieces  were  then  drawn  forward 
with  drag  ropes,  one  after  another  the  length  of  a  plank, 
thus  freeing  the  two  planks  in  the  rear,  which  in  their 
turn  were  carried  to  the  front.  This  labor  is  of  the  most 
fatiguing  kind." 

The  final  planting  of  the  breaching  batteries  on  Tybee 


HERCULEAN   LABOR.  ^    555 

Esland  was  also  a  most  difficult  task.  This  is  a  mud 
marsh,  with  here  and  there  hummocks  of  firm  ground. 
The  distance  from  the  landing  to  the  position  selected  for 
the  advance  batteries  was  two  miles  and '  a  half.  The 
spot  being  in  full  view  of  Fort  Pulaski,  and  within  range 
of  its  guns,  the  men  had  to  labor  altogether  in  the 
night  time,  covering  up  their  work  with  reeds,  &c.,  so 
that  daylight  should  not  reveal  what  had  been  done. 
He  says  in  his  journal,  "  No  one  except  an  eyewitness 
can  form  any  but  a  faint  conception  of  the  Herculean 
labor  by  which  mortars  of  eight  and  a  half  tons  weight, 
and  columbiads  but  a  trifle  lighter,  were  moved  in  the 
dead  of  night  over  a  narrow  causeway,  bordered  by 
swamps  on  either  side,  and  liable  at  any  time  to  be  over- 
turned and  buried  in  the  mud  beyond  reach.  The  stra- 
tum of  mud  is  about  twelve  feet  deep ;  and  on  several 
occasions  the  heaviest  pieces,  particularly  the  mortars, 
became  detached  from  the  sling  carts,  and  were  with 
great  difficulty  by  the  use  of  planks  and  skids  kept  from 
sinking  to  the  bottom.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  men  were 
barely  sufficient  to  move  a  single  piece  on  sling  carts. 
The  men  were  not  allowed  to  speak  above  a  whisper,  and 
were  guided  by  the  notes  of  a  whistle."  Thus,  night 
after  night,  in  rain  and  storm,  a  whispering  army  of  men 
slowly  heaved  along  these  monstrous  pieces,  and  at  length 
got  them  in  position  and  protected,  before  the  enemy 
dreamed  what  was  going  on. 

From  the  21st  of  February  to  the  9th  of  April,  these 
gigantic  operations  went  on,  until  at  last  eleven  batteries 
opened  on  the  doomed  place,  and  it  fell. 

In  September,  Gillmore  was  assigned  by  General 
Wright  to  the  command  of  the  district  of  Western  Vir- 
ginia. 


556  MAJOR-GENERAL    QUINCY   ADAMS    GILLMORE. 

In  Apri1.,  1863,  he  attacked  the  rebels  near  Somerset, 
Kentucky,  commanded  by  'Pegram,  and  after  a  stubborn 
fight  of  two  hours,  stormed  their  position  and  drove  them 
in  confusion  till  night  stopped  the  pursuit ;  which,  said  a 
correspondent,  "  for  six  miles  was  marked  by  torn  brush, 
scarred  trees  and  dead  horses."  Altogether  it  was  a  very 
gallant  affair,  for  the  rebels  outnumbered  Gillmore1  s  force 
two  to  one,  and  were,  besides,  behind  entrenchments. 

In  June,  of  this  year,  General  Hunter  was  relieved  from 
the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  South,  and  Gillmore 
placed  over  it.  From  the  moment  he  took  command,  he  bent 
all  his  energies  to  the  reduction  of  Sumter,  and  though 
he  did  not  succeed  in  his  endeavors,  what  he  actually  ac- 
complished raised  him  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame 
as  an  engineer.  His  first  grand  movement  was  to  se- 
cure a  lodgment  on  Morris  Island,  which  he  accom- 
plished on  the  10th  of  July,  and  attempted  to  carry  Fort 
Wagner  by  assault,  but  failed.  He  then  strengthened 
his  position  and  erected  five  batteries,  all  bearing  on  the 
fort.  On  the  18th,  everything  being  ready,  the  iron-clads 
moved  up,  and  at  noon,  a  terrific  bombardment  from  sea 
and  land  commenced,  while  Gillmore,  from  a  wooden  look- 
out, erected  on  a  sand-hill,  watched  the  effect.  Fifty-four 
guns  hurled  their  heavy  metal,  without  a  moment's  inter- 
mission, against  those  ramparts  of  sand,  from  the  land 
side,  while  six  iron-clads  thundered  from  the  sea  upon 
them.  But  as  night  came  on,  the  heavy  roar  of  the  big 
guns  on  land  and  sea  gradually  ceased,  and  slowly  and 
sullenly  the  monitors,  with  the  exception  of  the  Montauk, 
moved  back  to  the  anchorage  ground  of  the  morning. 
"The  music  of  the  billows,  forever  hymning  their  sublime 
chaunts,  was  again  heard  along  the  shore,  the  sun  went 
down,  not  in  golden  glory,  but  in  clouds  of  blackness 


THE    SWAMP    ANGEL.  557 

and  darkness,  and  amid  mutterings  of  thunder  and  flashes 
of  lightning.  In  the  slight  interval  between  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  cannonade  and  the  assault  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  the  artillery  of  heaven  opened  all  along  the 
western  horizon,  and  in  peal  after  peal  demonstrated  how 
insignificant  is  the  power  of  man  when  compared  with 
that  of  Him  who  holds  the  elements  in  the  hollow  of  His 
hand."*  Then  followed  that  terrible  night  assault,  the 
sad  history  of  which  is  so  well  known  to  all. 

Foiled  here,  Gillmore  now  resolved  to  shell  Sumter, 
though  two  miles  distant,  over  Forts  Wagner  and  Gregg. 
But  he  had  hardly  begun  to  establish  his  batteries,  before 
Beauregard  detected  their  object,  and  immediately  com- 
menced strengthening  the  walls  of  the  fort.  Outside  of 
it  he  piled  a  wall  of  sand  bags,  fifteen  feet  thick,  and 
forty-five  feet  high,  or  to  within  fifteen  feet  of  the  para- 
pet. Inside,  he  built  a  similar  wall,  making  a  total 
thickness  of  sand  bags  and  brick  wall  of  thirty-five  feet! 

In  a  swamp,  to  the  left  of  Sumter,  Gillmore  resolved 
to  place  a  single  gun  battery,  mounting  a  two  hundred 
pound  Parrot.  Colonel  Serrell  had  charge  of  its  con- 
struction, and  at  once  ordered  one  of  his  lieutenants  to 
take  twenty  men  and  enter  the  swamp  and  prepare  the 
foundation  for  it  to  rest  upon.  The  lieutenant  soon  re- 
ported that  it  could  not  be  done,  for  it  was  nothing  but 
a  bed  of  mortar.  "  Try  it,"  replied  the  colonel.  He  did ; 
and  with  his  men  covered  with  mire  returned,  and  said 
that  he  could  not  do  it,  for  the  mud  was  over  the  men's 
heads.  "  But  it  must  be  done,"  replied  the  colonel,  "  it 
is  General  Gillmore's  orders ;  so  make  your  requisitions  for 
everything  you  want,  and  it  shall  be  furnished  forthwith.1' 
The  lieutenant  at  once  sat  down  to  the  table  and  wrote — 

*  New  York  Tribune  account. 


558  MAJOR-GENERAL    QUINCY   ADAMS    GILLMOR& 

"Wanted,  twenty,  men,  eighteen  feet  long,  to  cross  a 
swamp  fifteen  feet  deep ! "  Still,  the  object  was  finally  ac 
complished ;  and  that,  too,  without  men  of  that  extraor- 
dinary altitude.  "  Two  miles  and  a  half  of  bridges,'' 
says  a  writer  in  the  United  States  Service  Magazine,  "are 
built  across  this  marsh,  leading  to  the  position  chosen  for 
the  battery;  "our  men  carry  ten  thousand  sandbags  filled 
with  sand  more  than  two  miles,  and  bring  over  three 
hundred  large  logs  and  pieces  of  timber  more  than  ten 
miles,  to  make  a  battery.  Its  erection  requires  the  work 
of  a  thousand  men  during  seven  nights,  and  its  position 
is  concealed  from  the  rebels  by  having  it  covered  in  the 
laytime  with  brushwood.  After  breaking  by  its  great 
weight  several  trucks,  the  monster  gun  is  finally  hauled 
up  and  placed  in  position.  Charleston,  four  miles  and  a 
half  away,  little  dreams  that  the  swamp  angel  is  looking 
into  her  streets."  The  La  Presse,  of  Paris,  published  an 
article  on  Gillmore's  operations  at  this  time,  which  was 
transferred  to  the  French  Journal  of  Military  Science, 
a  magazine  of  the  highest  authority  in  Europe,  in 
which  the  writer  says:  "Prodigies  of  talent,  audacity, 
intrepidity,  and  perseverance,  are  exhibited  in  the  at- 
tack, as  in  the  defence  of  this  city,  which  will  assign  to 
the  siege  of  Charleston  an  exceptional  place  in  military 
annals.  *  *  One  is  struck  with  amazement  on  reading 
in  the  journals  and  letters  from  America,  the  details  of 
this  contest,  in  which  the  two  adversaries  ought  to  feel 
mutual  astonishment,  as  they  rightfully  astonish  the  whole 
world  by  their  daily  proofs  of  superhuman  heroism." 

By  the  morning  of  the  18th,  Gillmore  had  his  batteries 
all  ready  to  open  fire.  Fort  Sumter,  unconscious  of  the 
awful  storm  that  was  about  to  burst  on  her,  fired  her 
morning  gun  as  usual,  the  echo  rolling  away  over  the 


BOMBARDMENT   OF   WAGNER.  559 

summer  sea,  and  ran  up  all  her  flags.  But  in  a  short 
time  the  Ironsides  and  monitors  were  seen  slowly  mov- 
ing up  the  bay,  when  he  gave  the  order  for  the  bombard- 
ment to  commence.  All  the  rebel  forts  around  replied ; 
the  iron-clads  joined  in,  throwing  their  heavy  metal  into 
Fort  Wagner,  and  from  sea  and  land  it  thundered  all  day 
long,  as  though  the  whole  artillery  of  heaven  was  exploding 
over  that  fearful  spot.  Toward  night,  as  the  light  of  the 
setting  sun  streamed  across  the  face  of  Sumter,  it  showed  a 
breach  made  clean  through  the  wall  of  sand-bags,  reveal- 
ing the  brick  wall  beyond.  All  night  long,  Gillmore  kept 
up  a  slow  fire,  and  next  morning,  clouds  of  brick-dust 
rising  in  the  air  showed  that  the  huge  structure  was 
yielding  to  the  ponderous  blows  that  were  raining  upon  it. 
Gillmore,  having  got  the  work  of  demolition  under 
way,  gave  the  garrison  no  time  to  repair  breaches ;  but 
night  and  day  rained  shot  and  shell  into  the  works,  until 
the  parapet  at  length  crumbled  away,  and  the  barbette 
guns  with  it.  The  well-nigh  impregnable  wall  of  sand- 
bags disappeared,  the  solid  wall  itself  was  ploughed 
through,  and  at  the  end  of  seven  days,  the  regular  out- 
lines of  the  fort  disappeared,  and  it  loomed  up  from  the 
water  a  jagged  ruin.  Gillmore  now  determined  to  throw 
incendiary  shells,  or  Greek  fire,  as  it  is  called,  into 
Charleston,  four  or  five  miles  away ;  but  before  commenc- 
ing sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Beauregard,  informing  him  of 
his  purpose,  and  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  city. 
The  latter  did  not  deign  a  reply,  and  the  astonished  in- 
habitants saw  huge  masses  of  metal,  as  though  descend- 
ing from  the  clouds,  dropping  in  their  midst,  with  the 
crash  of  exploding  cannon,  and  sending  streams  of  fire 
flaming  on  every  side,  Beauregard  remonstrated  against 
the  act  as  barbarous  ;  but  in  vain.  Still,  the  shells  did 


560  MAJOR-GENERAL    QUINCY   ADAMS    GILLMORE. 

but  little  damage,  as  most  of  them  exploded  before  they 
reached  the  city. 

Gillmore  now  determined  to  take  Fort  Wagner  by 
sapping,  and  so  get  nearer  Sumter  and  Charleston.  In 
two  weeks'  time  a  ditch,  which,  if  laid  out  in  a  straight 
line,  would  reach  ten  miles,  was  dug,  and  our  troops  at 
length  crowned  the  counterscarp  of  the  fort ;  where,  with 
a  single  bound,  they  could  be  inside.  Beauregard,  seeing 
that  its  fate  was  sealed,  evacuated  it  the  night  before  the 
assault  was  to  take  place.  The  troops,  lying  in  the 
trenches  waiting  for  the  first  streak  of  dawn,  to  rush  to 
the  assault,  were  informed  by  a  deserter  that  the  enemy 
had  left,  and  with  loud  cheers  they  leaped  upon  the  parapet 
and  waved  their  flags  from  the  summit.  They  then 
dashed  forward  toward  Fort  Gregg,  on  the  end  of  the 
island,  which  they  also  found  evacuated. 

This  put  the  whole,  of  Morris  Island  in  our  posses- 
sion. On  Cumming's  Point  Gillmore  now  erected 
his  batteries,  and  pounded  Fort  Sumter  till  it  was  a 
heap  of  rubbish,  and  sent  shells  daily  into  Charleston 
City ;  driving  away  the  inhabitants,  and  making  it  deso- 
late almost  as  Edom. 

But  the  mass  of  debris  that  lay  piled  above  the  case- 
mates of  the  fort  made  them  absolutely  impregnable,  and 
in  spite  of  Gillmore's  efforts,  the  rebel  flag  still  waved 
over  it  Six  months  passed  wearily — Sumter  was  as- 
saulted— monitors  were  lost — fearful  bombardments  took 
place,  yet  no  advance  was  made  toward  capturing  Charles- 
ton. But  though  he  did  not  succeed  in  the  final  object 
for  which  he  labored,  his  operations  were  a  splendid  tri- 
umph of  engineering  skill,  that  astonished  the  world. 

When,  in  the  spring  of  '64,  Grant  began  his  great 
campaign  against  Richmond,  he  ordered  Gillmore,  with 

V 


SCIENCE    VERSUS   IGNORANCE.  561 

the  Tenth  Corps,  north,  to  operate  under  Butler  against 
the  rebel  capital  of  the  South.  If  he  had  placed  the 
former  in  supreme  command,  Petersburg  would  have 
been  his  long  before  he  reached  the  James  River. 

When  Butler  advanced  to  take  possession  of  the  rail- 
road between  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  Gillmore,  at 
the  head  of  the  Tenth  Corps,  commanded  the  left  wing, 
and  by  a  skilful  flank  movement  carried  the  western  part 
of  the  enemy's  works  for  three  miles,  and  secured  a  very 
advantageous  position.     Here  he  wished  to  intrench,  but 
Butler  pompously  replied  that  his  movement  was  not  a 
defensive  but  an  offensive  one.     He  was  going  to  show 
to  General  Grant  and  the  country,  that  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  West  Point  officers  in  it  had,  after  all,  but 
partially   completed  his   education,   and   so   refused  to 
throw  up  any  protection  for  the  troops.     The  consequence 
was,  that  two  days  after,  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  fog,  the 
rebels  swooped  down  on  the  right,  and  falling  suddenly 
on  the  Eighteenth  Corps,  bore  it,  after  three  hours1  fight- 
ing, back,  when  Butler  ordered  a  general  retreat.     Gill- 
more,  made  of  different  stuff,  at  first  refused  to  obey,  de- 
claring that  he  could  hold  his  position,  and  begged  earn- 
estly to  be  allowed  to  do  so.     But  Butler  peremptorily 
ordered  him  to  fall  back  immediately,  and  the  defeated 
army  retreated  seven  miles  to  Bermuda  Hundred — losing 
its  valuable  position,  in  occupying  which  Butler  had  tele- 
graphed that  the  Southern  army  was  effectually  cut  off 
from  Lee ;  and  besides,  two  guns,  and  nearly  three  thou- 
sand prisoners.     In  speaking  of  this  disgraceful  affair, 
the  New  York  Times  says :  "  The  truth  ought  to  have 
been  plain  enough  at  the  outset,  that  military  science  de- 
mands as  systematic  and  protracted  study  as  that  of  law 
or  medicine ;  and  that  it  is  just  as  absurd  to  improvise  a 


562  MAJOR-GENERAL   QUINCY  ADAMS   GILLMORE. 

general  from  a  lawyer  or  a  merchant,  as  to  improvise  a 
judge  from  a  schoolmaster,  or  a  physician  from  a  me- 
chanic. The  want  of  professional  training  is  just  as  sure 
to  make  military  charlatans,  as  to  make  legal  or  medical 
charlatans.  It  is  astonishing  how  slow  our  Government 
and  the  people  have  been  to  recognize  so  simple  a  truth." 
So,  in  the  attack  on  Petersburg,  which  failed,  Butler  en- 
deavored to  put  the  blame  on  Gillmore. 

Of  course  the  latter  became  disgusted  with  such  a 
leader,  and  asked  to  be  relieved  from  his  command.  His 
wish  was  granted,  and  he  was  ordered  to  join  the  army 
opposed  to  Early,  in  Maryland. 

In  July,  while  following  up  the  rebels  at  the  head  of 
a  portion  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  he  was  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  injured  his  ankle  severely.  In  this  same 
month  he  was  made  major-general ;  thus  showing  what 
the  President  thought  of  his  merits  as  compared  with 
those  of  Butler. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  he  was  ordered  to  re- 
port to  Major-General  Canby,  to  perform  an  inspection 
tour  of  the  defences  and  fortifications  of  the  West,  but 
we  find  him  next  spring  again  over  the  Southern  De- 
partment, cooperating  with  Sherman  in  the  Carolinas 
supplying  Wilson,  and  occupying  Augusta. 

General  Gillmore,  though  now  but  forty  years  of  age, 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  engineering  officers  of  the  world, 
and  his  performances  before  Charleston  will  constitute  a 
part  of  the  text  books  on  siege  operations  in  all  the  mili- 
tary schools  of  civilized  nations. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GOIJVERNEUR  K.  WARREN. 


WAR  MAKES  AND  MARS  FORTUNES  QUICKLY — WARREN'S  NATIVITY— GRADUATES 
AT  WEST  POINT — SENT  TO  THE  SOUTHWEST — SUCCEEDS  LEE  ON  THE  MIS- 
SISSIPPI— HIS  GREAT  LABORS  IN  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  OFFICE — CAM- 
PAIGN AGAINST  THE  SIOUX  INDIANS — EXPLORES  NEBRASKA — APPOINTED 
PROFESSOR  OF  MATHEMATICS  AT  WEST  POINT — MADE  LIEUTENANT- 
COLONEL  OF  VOLUNTEERS-^-BIG  BETHEL — BUILDS  THE  WORKS  ON  FEDER- 
AL HILL,  BALTIMORE  —  MADE  COLONEL  —  ACTS  AS  BRIGADIER  IN  THE 
ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC— HIS  GALLANTRY  AT  MALVERN  HILL — HIS  BRI- 
GADE CUT  UP  AT  MANASSAS — ANTIETAM — TOPOGRAPHICAL  ENGINEER  AT 
CHANCELLORSVILLE— ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF  AT  GETTYSBURG — NARROW  ES- 
CAPE— MADE  MAJOR-GENERAL — BATTLE  OF  BRISTOE  STATION — COMMANDS 
THE  CENTRE  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  UNDER  GRANT — BATTLE 
OF  THE  WILDERNESS — HIS  GALLANTRY  AT  SPOTTSYLYANIA  —  NORTH 
ANNA — DESTROYS  THE  WELDON  'RAILROAD — SAVES  SHERIDAN  AT  FIVE. 
FORKS— RELIEVED  FROM  COMMAND — AFTER  SERVICE,  &0. 


IT  is  a  common  saying  that  war  makes  and  destroys 
reputations  rapidly.  In  a  single  hour  a  man  may  reach 
an  elevation  that  causes  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world  to  be 
directed  on  him,  and  in  the  same  short  interval  do  that  which 
will  consign  him  to  an  immortality  worse  than  oblivion. 
The  "  fortune  of  war  "  is  proverbial.  Circumstances  over 
which  the  man  himself  had  no  control  may  combine  to 
place  him  in  a  position  where  acquitting  himself  with  no 
more  gallantry  and  skill  than  a  thousand  others  similarly 
situated  would  do,  he  yet  rises  at  once  to  rank  and  fame.. 

36 


564  MAJOR-GENERAL   GOUVERNEUR   K.    WARREN. 

Sometimes  such  men  have  sufficient  strength  of  charac- 
ter to  retain  what  fortune  so  generously  gives  them,  and 
prove  by  their  future  conduct  that  they  deserve  what  they 
have  obtained,  but  in  many  instances  they  show  them- 
selves unequal  to  the  responsibilities  which  their  sudden 
elevation  brings  with  it,  and  descend  as  rapidly  as  they 
rose.  Others  attain  to  the  highest  rank  without  having 
done  anything  which  in  popular  estimation  entitles  them 
to  it,  and  yet  which  they  fill  with  consummate  ability. 
These  last  rise  not  by  fortune,  but  solid  merit,  hard  every- 
day work  that  tells  on  an  army,  but  which  is  unseen  and 
unfelt  outside  of  it.  The  War  Department  and  the  leading 
commanders  know  and  appreciate  such  men,  and  are 
compelled  to  avail  themselves  of  their  knowledge  and 
ability. 

Warren  and  McPherson  are  two  most  remarkable 
examples  of  this  class  of  officers.  The  people  scarcely 
knew  of  the  latter  until,  to  their  astonishment,  they  were 
told  that  Grant  in  the  East  and  Sherman  in  the  West, 
were  weeping  over  him  as  a  great  man  fallen.  So  of  the 
former,  though  his  name  often  appeared  in  public 
despatches,  but  little  was  known  of  him  until  it  was  an- 
nounced that  a  young  man  only  thirty-four  years  old  had 
been  entrusted  by  Grant  with  the  command  of  the 
centre  of  his  grand  army  as  he  moved  across  the  Hapidan 
to  meet  Lee  in  what  he  expected  to  be  the  decisive  battle 
of  the  war.  It  was  no  common  military  ability  that  se- 
cured this  position.  There  was  a  score  of  veteran  officers 
whose  names  were  as  familiar  as  household  words  to  the 
nation,  whom  one  would  have  selected  for  this  responsible 
position,  yet  Grant  put  Warren  there,  and  simply  because 
he  knew  his  great  ability. 

Gouvemeur  K.  Warren  was  born  in  Cold  Spring,  New 


SUCCEEDS   LEE.  565 

York  State,  January  8th,  1830,  and  hence  was  only 
thirty-one  when  the  war  broke  out.  He  entered  West 
Point  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  and  yet  graduated  second 
in  a  class  of  forty-five,  thus  showing  that  at  the  age  of 
twenty  he  was  head  and  shoulders  above  his  compeers. 
Brevetted  second-lieutenant  in  the  Engineer  Corps,  he 
was  employed  in  the  survey  of  the  Mississippi  Delta, 
under  the  present  General  Humphreys.  He  remained 
here  for  three  years,  and  then  took  the  place  of  Lee,  who 
had  charge  of  the  rapids  of  the  Mississippi  at  Rock 
Island  and  Des  Moines.  As  he  succeeded  the  future 
rebel  general,  in  charge,  so  Joe  Johnston  succeeded  him. 
In  1854  he  was  employed  under  Jeff.  Davis  in  the  Missis- 
sippi railroad  office,  where  he  rendered  signal  service. 
Humphreys,  in  his  report  to  the  War  Department  when 
he  took  charge  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  office,  says,  "  I 
found  that  the  preparation  of  the  material  for  the  general 
map  was  a  work  of  great  labor,  and  the  superintendence  of 
its  construction  and  drawing  had  been  intrusted  to  Lieut. 
G.  K.  Warren,"  &c.  &c.  "Lieut.  Warren  has  continued 
in  charge  of  the  office  duties  which  include  the  critical 
examination  of  the  reports,  maps,  profiles  and  all  the 
original  data  submitted  by  the  exploring  parties  and 
others,  and  reports  upon  the  results ;  the  preparations  of 
the  general  map  and  its  engraving ;  the  compilation  of 
profiles  of  all  the  routes  recently  explored  and  previously 
examined  barometrically,  the  preparation  of  all  the  maps, 
profiles,  and  other  drawings  made  in  the  office,"  &c.,  &c., 
and  finally  adds,  "In  addition  to  this,  he  has  largely 
aided  me  in  making  this  report."  This  exhibits  a  pro- 
ficiency and  ripeness  in  his  profession  seldom  witnessed 
in  a  young  man  of  twenty-four. 

In  1855  he  served  under  Harney  in  an  expedition 


566  MAJOR-GENERAL    GOUVERNEUR   K.    WARREN. 

against  the  Sioux  Indians,  and  had  two  engagements 
with  them  in  which  many  were  killed.  In  chasing  -the 
savages  over  the  distant  sand-plains  of  the  frontier,  he 
took  his  first  lesson  in  actual  war.  In  1856  and  '57 
he  explored  the  Nebraska  Territory.  The  Smithsonian 
Institute  published  his  report  of  Geological  Explora- 
tions. 

Afterwards,  he  was  transferred  to  "West  Point,  and 
in  1859  and  '60  was  Assistant  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics. In  the  meantime,  however,  he  had  been  pro- 
moted, being  made  full  second  lieutenant  in  1854,  and 
first  lieutenant  in  July,  1856.  When  the  war  broke  out, 
he  asked  leave  of  absence  to  serve  in  the  volunteer  army, 
and  in  April  was  appointed  lieut. -colonel  of  the  Fifth 
New  York  regiment.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Big 
Bethel,  and,  with  Dr.  Winslow,  brought  off  the  wounded 
after  it  was  over.  The  next  August,  he  was  made  colo- 
nel, and  in  the  following  month  promoted  to  captain  in 
the  regular  army.  He  was  stationed  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  afterwards  served  under  General  Dix,  in  Baltimore, 
and  built  the  works  on  Federal  Hill.  Joining  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  at  Yorktown,  he  was  attached  to  the 
heavy  artillery,  under  Tyler.  Acting  as  brigadier,  he 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Hanover  Court  House,  and  was 
also  in  that  of  Gaines1  Mill.  Attached  to  Sykes1  division 
in  the  retreat,  he,  on  the  evening  of  the  30^i,  when 
near  Malvern  Hill,  was  attacked  by  the  enemy,  whom  he 
gallantly  repulsed,  capturing  two  guns.  In  all  these  en- 
gagements he  showed  rare  ability,  and  at  Malvern  Hill 
so  distinguished  himself  by  his  gallantry,  that  he  was 
made  brigadier-general. 

He  served  under  Pope  in  his  Virginia  campaign,  and 
in  the  battle  of  Manassas  held  his  brigade  under  such  a 


TOPOGEAPHICAL   ENGINEER.  567 

murderous  fire,  and  carried  it  forward  so  fiercely,  that  he 
lost  a  third  of  his  men— a  fearful  mortality.  He  was 
under  Porter,  at  Antietam,  but  afterwards  became  at- 
tached to  Hooker's  division.  When  the  latter  assumed 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  made  "Warren 
Chief  Topographical  Engineer,  who  rendered  efficient 
service  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Chancellors ville ;  and 
after  it  was  over,  rode  across  the  country  to  inform 
Sedgewick  of  the  condition  of  things. 

He  was  now  made  Topographical  Engineer-in-Chief 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Just  previous  to  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  he  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and  hasten- 
ing North,  was  married,  and  the  same  afternoon  left 
again  for  the  army.  In  the  battle  itself  his  duties  led  him 
everywhere  over  the  field,  and  once,  as  he  was  crossing  it 
under  a  heavy  fire,  a  bullet  cut  his  chin  underneath,  in- 
flicting a  slight  wound.  On  the  second  day  he  stood 
on  Round  Top  Hill  alone,  not  a  soldier  near,  and  saw  the 
enemy  sweeping  round  upon  it.  He  instantly  flew  his 
signal,  and  kept  it  waving,  until  a  brigade  dashed  for- 
ward and  occupied  it. 

He  was  soon  after  made  major-general  of  volunteers, 
to  date  from  Chancellorsville,  and  given  the  command  of 
the  Second  Corps. 

"When,  in  the  following  October,  Meade  lay  along  the 
Rapidan,  vVarren  was  accustomed  to  put  on  a  soldier's 
uniform,  and  reconnoitre  the  enemy's  position.  In  this 
garb  he  was  allowed  to  stray  into  a  proximity,  where,  as 
a  general  officer,  he  would  have  been  shot.  In  this  man- 
ner he  obtained  much  valuable  information. 

When  Lee  here  suddenly  outflanked  Meade,  com- 
pelling him  to  retreat  in  great  haste,  Warren  com- 
manded the  rear-guard.  Near  Bristoe  Station,  the 


568  MAJOR-GENERAL   GOUVERNEUR   K.    WARREN. 

rebels  made  a  sudden  and  heavy  onset  upon  him,  and 
at  first,  having  all  their  batteries  planted,  possessed 
greatly  the  advantage.  But  Warren,  who  now  for  the 
first  time  had  an  opportunity  to  display  his  great  abilities 
as  a  strategist,  soon  reversed  this  state  of  things — and  the 
manner  in  which  he  chose  his  position,  handled  his  troops, 
and  planted  his  batteries,  and  for  five  hours  repelled 
every  effort  of  the  enemy  to  advance,  and  finally  drove 
him  to  cover,  showed  him  to  be  perfect  master  of  the  art 
of  war,  and  called  forth  a  congratulatory  order  from  Gen- 
eral Meade.  He  captured,  in  this  engagement,  five  guns, 
two  colors,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners.  The 
precision,  promptitude,  and  sagacity  he  exhibited  in  this 
his  first  field,  on  which  he  commanded  separately,  made 
him  at  once  a  conspicuous  man  in  the  army.  Dash  and 
daring  do  not  go  so  far  with  military  men  as  with  the 
public,  and  a  battle  so  completely  planned  and  perfectly 
fought  as  this,  could  not  escape  the  observation  of  such 
men  as  Meade  and  Grant. 

When  the  army  began  its  great  campaign  against 
Richmond  next  spring,  and  crossed  the  Rapidan,  War- 
ren, at  the  head  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  held  the  centre.  In 
the  first  day's  battle  in  the  Wilderness,  though  he  ad- 
vanced boldly  against  the  enemy,  he  was  at  length  com- 
pelled to  fall  back  with  the  loss  of  two  guns.  The  second 
day,  in  reinforcing  the  hard  pressed  wings,  hf*  reduced 
his  corps  to  two  divisions,  yet  with  these  he  firmly  main- 
tained his  position. 

In  following  up  Lee  to  Spottsylvania,  Warren  was 
told  that  only  a  body  of  rebel  cavalry  held  it,  and  or- 
dered to  push  on  and  take  it.  He  immediately  sent  for- 
ward a,  portion  of  his  force,  which  ran  right  into  a  whole 
rebel  corps,  and  was  terribly  cut  up.  When  the  tidings 


A   GALLANT   ACTION.  569 

reached  Warren,  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  dashing 
forward,  reached  the  front  just  as  Robinson's  division  was 
breaking  in  great  disorder.  Instantly  seizing  the  colors, 
he  planted  them  amid  the  rebel  fire,  and  by  his  voice 
and  gallant  bearing  rallied  the  division,  whose  leader 
had  fallen ;  but  in  the  daring  act  had  his  horse  shot  under 
him. 

In  the  flank  movement  to  the  North  Anna,  Warren 
crossed  the  river  without  opposition,  at  Jericho's  Ford — 
his  men  wading  it  breast  deep.  In  the  severe  fight  that 
followed,  he  handled  his  troops  with  such  skill  and  sue. 
cess,  and  punished  the  enemy  so  severely,  that  Meade 
complimented  him  publicly. 

All  through  that  terrific  battle  in  the  Wilderness,  at 
Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  and  on  till  the  army  sat 
down  before  Petersburg,  he  exhibited  a  tactical  skill  and 
fighting  power  unsurpassed  by  the  oldest  general  in  the 
field,  and  equalled  by  few.  We  have  not  space  to  follow 
him  in  all  these  movements,  nor  in  those  which  took  place 
in  the  long  siege  of  Richmond. 

In  the  fore-part  of  December,  with  his  own  corps  and 
a  part  of  the  Second,  he  moved  out  of  his  camps  down 
the  Jerusalem  plank  road,  crossed  the  Nottaway  on  pon- 
toons, and  proceeded  as  far  as  the  Meherrin  River ;  de- 
stroying twenty  miles  of  the  Weldon  railroad,  besides 
station-Mbuses  and  bridges.  On  his  return  he  burned 
Sussex  Court  House,  in  retaliation  for  brutal  treatment 
and  murder  of  some  of  our  stragglers;  and  was  back 
in  his  old  quarters  before  the  rebels  had  fairly  waked  up 
to  see  what  a  terrible  blow  had  been  struck  them. 

We  now  come  to  Warren's  last  active  service  in  the 
field.  When  Grant  made  his  great  movement  on  the  en- 
emy's right  flank,  by  which  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg 


570  MAJOR-GENERAL   GOUVERNEUR   K.    WARREN. 

I 

and  Richmond  was  secured,  Sheridan,  it  is  known,  took 
the  advance  on  our  extreme  left,  and  pushed  on  to  Din- 
widdie  Court  House.     A  few  miles  beyond  it,  at  Five 
Forks,  he    came   upon    the   enemy,   and  was  defeated, 
and   compelled  to   fall  back   to   Dinwiddie.      Warren's 
corps  was  at  once  sent  to  his  relief.     It  had  been  fighting 
all  day,  yet  he  sent  a  portion  of  it  forward  immediately, 
which  marched  all  night,  reaching  Sheridan  next  morn- 
ing.    The  rest  of  his  corps  rapidly  followed,  and  War- 
ren, as  ordered,  reported  to  Sheridan  on  his  arrival,  who 
immediately  assumed  entire  command.     Deeming  him- 
self now  strong  enough  to  resume  the  offensive,  the  latter 
moved  forward — the  rebels  retiring  as  he  advanced — un- 
til he  at  length  drew  up  in  front  of  the  strong  entrench- 
ments at  Five  Forks.      Warren  was   now  directed  to 
move  with  his  whole  corps  on  the  enemy's  left  flank, 
while  the  cavalry  attacked  in  front.     With  his  usual  skill 
and  promptitude,  he  advanced  on  the  strong  position  in 
three  lines  of  battle,  and  sweeping  steadily  down,  carried 
everything  before   him ;    capturing  the   rebel   artillery, 
which  was  attempting  to  move  north,  and  many  prison- 
ers.    Finding  the  rebel  front  still  holding  its   ground 
against  Sheridan's  cavalry,  he,  without  waiting  to  reform, 
swooped  down  on  the  hostile  line,  breaking  it  to  frag- 
ments, and  giving  the  cavalry  a  chance  to  dash  in  and 
finish  the  work.      Warren,  in  this  last  movement,  rode 
with  his  staff  in  the  front,  and  was  still  there  just  at 
dusk,  his  men  shouting  the  victory,  when  he  received 
Sheridan's  order  relieving  him  from  command,  and  direct- 
ing him  to  report  to  Grant.     Before  doing  so,  he  sought 
a  personal  interview,  and  asked  the  reason  of  his  being 
relieved.     With  strange  discourtesy  and  injustice,  the  lat- 
ter refused  to  give  him  any. 


HIS    CHARACTER.  571 

How  Grant  viewed  this  proceeding,  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  he  immediately  placed  Warren  in  com- 
mand of  the  defences  of  City  Point  and  Bermuda  Hun- 
dred. 0 

In  May  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Department,  but  he  did  not  retain  it  long,  and 
offered  his  resignation  as  major-general  of  volunteers. 

He  asked  for  an  investigation,  but  Grant  replied  that 
it  was  impossible,  in  the  disturbed  state  of  affairs,  to  as- 
semble a  court  of  enquiry  at  the  time,  and  so  the  matter 
dropped.  Although  this  was  unjust  to  Warren,  perhaps 
it  was  quite  as  well  it  should  rest  so.  The  war  was  over, 
the  country  jubilant  and  filled  with  praises  of  Sheridan, 
who  had  fought  nobly,  and  contributed  largely  to  the 
capture  of  Lee.  A  court  of  enquiry  would  of  course  have 
been  compelled  to  censure  him — an  ungracious  task  just 
then — while  his  condemnation  would  have  changed  the 
opinion  of  scarcely  any  one  in  or  out  of  the  army.  The 
people  felt  that  it  was  an  act  of  injustice,  born  of  sudden 
impatience  and  excitement,  such  as  he  has  often  commits 
ted,  and  were  sorry  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  it,  but 
preferred  to  forget  it  in  consideration  of  his  gallant  serv- 
ices ;  while  among  military  men,  if  it  had  any  effect  at 
all,  it  only  raised  Warren  higher  in  their  estimation.  A 
court  of  enquiry,  therefore,  would  have  had  no  effect  on 
his  reputation,  though,  as  an  act  of  justice,  it  was  de- 
manded. He  could  much  better  afford  to  let  it  pass  than 
Sheridan  can.  A  sudden  act  of  injustice  may  be  par- 
doned :  persisting  in  it  constitutes  its  chief  criminality. 

Warren  is  yet  a  young  man,  only  thirty-five,  and  has 
a  future  before  him,  the  character  of  which  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  past.  Rather  slightly  nuide,  with  black 
hair  and  eves,  he  presents  a  fine  appearance.  The  for- 


572  MAJOR-GENERAL   GOUVERNEUR   K.    WARREN. 

mation  of  his  head  shows  that  tHe  thinking  faculties  pre 
dominate  strongly  over  the  combative  ones.  By  those 
most  qualified  to  judge,  he  is  considered  one  of  the  best, 
if  not  the  best,  tactician  in  the  army.  "With  a  nervous, 
quick  temperament,  balanced  by  strong  reflective  powers, 
and  perfect  knowledge  of  his  profession,  he  combines  all 
the  qualities  of  a  great  general. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

MAJOR- GENERAL  HORATIO  GATES  WRIGHT — MAJOR-GENERAL  EDWARD  OTHO 
CRESAP  ORD — MAJOR-GENERAL  ANDREW  A.  HUMPHREYS — MAJOR-GENE- 
RAL GODFREY  WEITZEL — MAJOR-GENERAL  P.  P.  BLAIR — MAJOR-GENERAL 
A,  S.  WILLIAMS  —  MAJOR-GENERAL  JEFF.  C.  DAVIS  —  MAJOR-GENERAL 
MOWER— MAJOR-GENERAL  DOBSON  COX— MAJOR-GENERAL  PETER  J.  OS- 
TERHAUS. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  HORATIO  GATES  WRIGHT. 

As  the  successor  of  Sedgewick  in  command  of  the 
Sixth  Corps,  General  Wright  must  be  considered  as  one  of 
Grant's  important  generals.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
and  graduated  in  1841  at  West  Point,  where  from  1842 
to  1843  he  was  assistant  professor  of  Engineers.  He  was 
made  First  Lieutenant  in  1848,  and  Captain  in  1855, 
and  Major  in  August,  1861.  In  the  autumn  of  1861, 
being  appointed  Brigadier-General. of  Volunteers,  he  was 
attached  to  the  Port  Koyal  expedition.  He  commanded 
the  expedition  which  was  sent  into  Florida  the  next 
winter,  and,  capturing  Fernandina,  remained  for  awhile  in 
charge  of  the  department.  He  commanded  a  division  in 
the  battle  of  James  Island  in  June,  1862,  but  in  July 
was  ordered  to  reinforce  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In 
August  he  was  promoted  to  Major- General,  and  assigned 
to  the  Department  of  the  Ohio.  While  here  he  was 
appointed  by  Halleck  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the 


574          MAJOR-GENERAL   EDWARD   OTHO   CRESAP   ORD. 

evacuation  of  Cumberland  Gap  by  Morgan,  and  com- 
pletely exonerated  that  officer.  When  Grant,  in  1864, 
organized  his  campaign  against  Richmond,  General 
Wright  commanded  a  division  under  Sedgewick,  and 
after  the  death  of  the  latter  took  his  position,  and  re- 
mained at  the  head  of  the  Sixth  Corps  to  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  showed  himself  in  all  the  subsequent  inarches 
and  battles,  a  worthy  successor  of  a  most  gallant  com- 
mander of  a  corps,  distinguished  for  its  discipline  and 
bravery.  In  the  last  terrible  battle  in  front  of  the  Peters- 
burg works,  he  handled  his  troops  with  a  skill  and  power 
that  elicited  the  warmest  approbation,  and  bore  off  a  full 
share  of  the  honors,  in  the  final  pursuit  and  capture  of 
Lee.  An  able  department  commander,  and  equally 
capable  in  the  field,  he  ranks  among  the  first  generals  of 
the  army.  He  now  commands  the  Department  of 
Texas. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  EDWARD  OTHO  CRESAP  ORD. 

GENERAL  ORD  served  under  Grant,  both  West  and 
East,  and  has  witnessed  his  rising  and  perfected  fame  on 
the  battle-field.  Born  in  Maryland,  in  1818,  he  gradua- 
ted at  West  Point  in  1839,  in  the  same  class  with  Hal- 
leek.  As  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery,  he 
served  in  Florida  against  the  Seminoles  for  several 
years,  and  then  was  employed  in  garrison  duty  and  on 
the  coast  survey,  till  1846,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Cali- 
fornia. He  did  valuable  service  in  the  Mexican  War, 
and  also  in  preserving  law  and  order  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
In  1851,  he  was  made  captain,  and  stationed  on  the  At- 


PRESSING    THE   REBELS.  575 

lantic  coast,  where  he  remained  till  1855,  when  he  was  again 
sent  to  California,  and  continued  in  active  service  there 
and  in  Oregon,  and  Washington  Territory,  till  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war.  In  1861,  he  was  made  brigadier- 
general,  and  assigned  to  the  Pennsylvania  Reserve  Corps, 
under  McCall.  In  the  autumn,  he  was  made  major  in 
the  regular  army.  He  fought  and  won  the  battle  of 
Dranesville,  for  which  he  was  made  major-general. 
When  Halleck  was  sent  west,  he  was  ordered  to  report 
to  him,  who  placed  him  in  command  at  Corinth,  and 
afterwards  of  the  Second  Division  of  the  District  of 
West  Tennessee.  He  was  with  Grant  in  the  combined 
movement  with  Rosecrans  on  luka — and  after  the  battle 
of  Corinth,  vigorously  pressed  the  rebels  in  their  retreat 
Through  swamps  and  jungles,  and  over  precipitous  ridges, 
dragging  his  artillery  by  hand,  he  drove  them  from  every 
position  which  they  attempted  to  hold,  generally,  he  says, 
"  at  the  double-quick — to  and  across  the  Hatchie,  at 
Davis's  Bridge,  over  which  and  up  the  steep  beyond,  we 
pushed  them  so  rapidly  that  they  had  not  time  to  burn 
the  bridge.  In  driving  the  enemy,  we  took  two  batteries, 
and  have  them ;  and  at  the  river  captured  two  or  three 
hundred  prisoners,  among  whom  are  field-officers,  and  an 
aid-de-camp  to  General  Van  Dorn." 

He  served  under  Grant  in  his  Vicksburg  cam- 
paign, and  when  the  latter,  during  the  siege,  removed 
McClernand,  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  his 
corps. 

He  performed  gallant  service  in  the  last  great  cam- 
paign against  Richmond,  and  when  Butler  was  removed 
from  the  Army  of  the  James,  he  was  placed  in  command 
of  it. 

In  the  final  advance  against  Petersburg,  he  took  the 


576  MAJOR-GENERAL  ANDREW   A.    HUMPHREYS. 

flower  of  Ms  army,  and  moved  with  Grant,  leaving  the 
balance  north  of  the  James,  under  "Weitzel. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Ohio. 

Though  his  career  has  not  been  oiie  to  attract  in  a 
special  manner  the  attention  of  the  public,  his  services 
have  been  highly  appreciated  by  the  Government,  and  he 
ranks  among  the  ablest  generals  which  the  war  has  pro- 
duced. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  ANDREW  A.  HUMPHREYS. 

v 

GENERAL  HUMPHREYS  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1812,  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1831,  and  being  ap- 
pointed Brevet  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  artillery,  acted 
as  assistant  professor  of  Engineering  in  the  Academy 
till  the  next  spring.  Sent  to  Florida,  he  distinguished 
himself  in  a  fight  with  the  Indians,  and  was  made  First 
Lieutenant  in  the  topographical  engineers.  He  was 
employed  in  the  coast  survey  from  1845  to  1849.  In 
1853  he  took  charge  of  the  office  of  explorations  and 
surveys  in  the  War  Department,  and  his  able  reports 
were  published  and  highly  extolled.  Promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Major  in  1861,  he  was  attached  to  the  staff  of 
McClellan.  Made  Brigadier-General  in  the  autumn  of 
1862,  he  was  assigned  to  a  brigade  in  the  Ninth  Army 
Corps.  His  whole  history  as  connected  with  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  shows  him  to  be  possessed  of  the  highest 
ability.  When  Grant  put  himself  at  its  head,  he  made 
Humphreys  his  chief  of  staff,  and  on  the  resignation  of 
Hancock  in  the  following  autumn,  placed  him  over  the 


GENERAL  WEITZEL.  577 

! 

Second  Corps,  which  he  continued  to  command  to  the 
close  of  the  war.  In  the  various  battles  that  followed, 
he  distinguished  himself  by  the  able  manner  in  which  he 
handled  it,  and  won  a  place  among  the  great  generals 
whose  names,  linked  to  that  of  Grant,  will  go  down  to 
immortality. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GODFREY  WEITZEL. 

GENERAL  W^TZEL  succeeded  to  the  command  of  that 
portion  of  the  Army  of  the  James  which  remained  north 
of  the  river  in  the  final  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac, and  being  the  first  to  enter  Richmond,  occupied  a 
conspicuous  position  as  one  of  Grant's  generals.  Most  of 
his  active  military  life  was  in  the  South  under  Butler. 
He  was  born  in  Ohio,  and.  graduated  at  West  Point  in 
1855,  the  second  of  his  class.  He  was  not  yet  thirty 
years  of  age  when  he  became  attached  to  Butler's  staff 
as  lieutenant.  Made  brigadier-general  in  1862,  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  Louisiana,  and  afterward  command^ 
ed  under  Banks  in  his  expedition  through  the  State.  He 
was  made  chief  engineer  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
and  acquired  a  high  reputation  for  gallantry  in  the  as- 
sault on  Port  Hudson  and  the  subsequent  siege.  Eventr 
ually  transferred  North,  he  served  under  Butler  in  the 
campaign  against  Richmond. 

In  the  first  expedition  to  capture  Fort  Fisher,  he  was 
sent  on  a  reconnoissance  of  the  place-  and  reported,  accord- 
ing to  General  Butler's  account,  against  the  attempt  to 
carry  it  by  assault.  Afterward  placed  over  the  Army 
of  the  James,  he  was  stationed  north  of  that  river,  when 


578  MAJOR-GENERAL   F.    P.    BLAIR. 

Grant  made  his  last  great  movement  to  the  south  of 
Petersburg.  On  the  evacuation  of  the  rebel  capital,  he 
entered  it  and  took  possession,  establishing  his  head- 
quarters in  Jefferson  Davis1  house.  Here  he  soon  after 
received  the  President  and  welcomed  him  to  the  rebel 
capital. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  F.  P.  BLAIR. 

No  man  is  perhaps  more  identified  with  Grant  and 
Sherman  than  General  Blair.  A  Western  man  himself, 
he  has  been  prominent  in  most  of  the  Western  cam- 
paigns, in  which  he  always  exhibited  the  highest  capa- 
city. 

In  the  first  attack  on  Vicksburg  by  Sherman,  he  bore 
himself  with  a  gallantry  that  will  always  make  him  a 
conspicuous  object  in  any  description  of  the  assault  of 
that  place. 

Through  an  almost  impenetrable  abattis,  over  a  ditch 
half  filled  with  water,  with  quicksand  at  the  bottom, 
and  through  another  abattis  of  heavy  timber  beyond, 
all  fhe  while  swept  by  a  murderous  fire  of  artillery, 
he  gallantly  carried  his  brigade,  and  drove  the  enemy 
from  the  rifle-pits  at  the  base  of  the  centre  hill  on  which 
the  city  lay.  Striding  -on  foot  at  its  head,  he  still  ad- 
vanced up  the  heights — but  the  force  was  too  small  for 
the  work  to  be  accomplished,  and  the  assault  had  to  be 
abandoned.  The  charge  would  have  been  no  more  gal- 
lant had  it  been  successful  and  Vicksburg  captured  ; 
but  success  would  have  given  it  a  world-wide  reputa- 
tion. 


GENERAL    WILLIAMS.  579 

Through  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  leading  a  corps 
under  Sherman  across  the  country  to  Chattanooga, 
thence  on  to  Atlanta,  and  finally  commanding  the  Seven- 
teenth Corps  under  Howard,  going .  through  the  Georgia 
and  Carolina  campaigns,  he  has  ever  shown  himself  the 
great  leader,  and  won  imperishable  renowrf  Cool  and 
imperturbable  under  fire,  he  smokes  his  cigar  in  the  midst 
of  a  charge  as  quietly  as  in  his  own  tent.  A  great 
general,  he  is  still  greater  as  a  statesman — and  could  those 
who  rule  the  country  be  governed  by  his  enlarged  views, 
its  future  prospects  would  be  far  better.  Under  him  was 
the  splendid  soldier,  Giles  E.  Smith,  who  with  his  divi- 
sion swam  the  Salkahatchie  in  mid- winter,  and  thus 
helped  to  force  this  strong  line  of  defence.  Nearly  six 
feet  high,  and  well  proportioned,  this  man  moves  like  a 
knight  of  old  over  the  battle-field. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  A.  S.  WILLIAMS, 
t 

THIS  gallant  officer,  commanding  the  Twentieth  Corps 
under  Howard  in  his  Georgia  campaign,  has  been  shifted 
about  in  a  most  marvellous  manner.  Conceded  to  pos- 
sess the  highest  merit,  a  favorite  with  all,  subordinate, 
brave  and  efficient,  he  has,  nevertheless,  been  advanced 
and  set  back  by  the  mere  force  of  circumstances.  He 
was  a  division  commander  at  Bull  Run  and  Fredericks- 
burg — corps  commander  at  Chancellorsville  and  Gettys- 
burg, and  when  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  were  consoli- 
dated into  the  Twentieth,  went  back  to  a  division,  and 
then  again  became  corps  commander  till  the  Carolina 
37 


580  MAJOR-GENERAL   JEFF.    C.    DAVIS. 

campaign,  when  lie  was  superseded  by  Mower,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  order  of  the  President,  and  thence  went 
back,  at  the  very  close  of  the  war  to  his  starting  point — 
division  commander. 

Under  him  was  Geary,  the  hero  of  Lookout  Valley 
and  Mountain,  and  afterwards  the  popular  governor  of  Sa- 
vannah, the  fortifications  around  which  he  was  the  first 
to  enter. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  JEFF.  C.  DAVIS 

COMMANDED  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  under  Slocum,  and 
fought  his  way  up  from  the  outset  of  the  war  to  his  high 
position — being  one  of  the  ablest  generals  in  Sherman's 
army. 


MAJOR-GEKERAL  MOWER. 

MOWER,  who  succeeded  Williams  in  the  command  of 
the  Twentieth  Corps,  is  one  of  the  fighting  men  in  the 
army.  Of  unconquerable  resolution  and  energy,  he  is 
always  found  in  the  front,  and  seems  most  at  home  in  the 
tumult  of  a  great  battle.  It  is  a  common  remark  in  the 
army,  that  "  three  successive  sets  of  his  staff  officers  are 
in  heaven."  Now  losing  half  his  men  in  a  desperate 
charge  up  a  road  in  front  of  Vicksburg — now  wading 
swamps,  breast  deep,  at  the  head  of  his  division,  and 
again,  out  on  the  skirmish  line,  he  is  ever  exposed  and 
seemingly  rash ;  but  never  fails  in  what  he  attempts. 
His  words  are  few,  and  he  leaves  his  deeds  to  speak  for 
him. 


THE  GALLANT  PRUSSIAN.  581 


MAJOR-GENERAL  DOLSON  COX. 

GENERAL  Cox,  of  the  Twenty-Third  Corps,  is  an- 
other general  distinguished  for  great  executive  ability, 
— ready,  prompt,  and  daring,  Sherman  always  knew 
that  whatever  task  was  assigned  to  him  would  be  done. 
Although  born  in  Canada,  his  parents  were  residents  of 
New  York  city.  His  brilliant  career  in  the  Kanawah 
Valley  of  Virginia,  is  one  of  the  bright  spots  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  war. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  PETER  J.  OSTERHAUS. 

PROMINENT  among  the  generals  that  served  under  both 
Sherman  and  Grant  is  this  gallant  Prussian.  Starting  as 
major  of  volunteers,  in  Missouri,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  he  has  fought  his  way  over  all  obstacles 
to  major-general.  Under  Sigel,  Curtis,  McClernand, 
and  Blair,  he  was  always  foremost  in  the  fight.  Wounded 
in  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  he  nevertheless  next 
day  rode  at  the  head  of  his  division.  With  nothing  but 
his  own  merits  to  push  him  forward,  he  was  finally  placed 
over  Logan's  Fifteenth  Corps,  in  the  Georgia  campaign. 
Always  at  his  post,  and  ready  for  any  enterprise,  he 
pours  his  own  enthusiastic  spirit  into  his  troops  in  battle, 
and  handles  them  with  masterly  skill  and  success.  He 
has  done  his  adopted  country  noble  service,  and  will  be 
remembered,  in  after  years,  with  Kosciusko,  Baron  Steu- 
ben,  and  other  illustrious  foreigners,  whose  names  grace 
the  annals  of  the  Republic.  Loving  freedom,  he  is  wil- 


582  MAJOR-GENERAL    PETER   J.    OSTERHAUS. 

ling  to  fight  for  it ;  and  without  that  captious,  quarrel- 
some spirit,  which  characterizes  some,  is  ready  for  any 
work,  and  indulges  in  no  complaints.  Such  men  the 
nation  has  always  delighted  to  honor,  and  all  the  more, 
as  the  land  they  freely  offer  their  lives  for  is  not  that  of 
their  birth. 

There  are  other  distinguished  generals  who  did  not 
grow  up  under  Grant  and  Sherman,  but  served  under 
the  former  in  his  last  great  campaign,  and  who  deserve 
a  separate  place  in  history,  such  as  Griffin,  and  Ayres, 
and  Crawford,  and  Merritt,  and  Ouster,  and  a  host 
that  might  be  named,  whose  deeds  would  fill  volumes. 
There,  too,  are  Hurlbut,  and  Corse,  and  McCook,  and 
Wood,  and  the  gallant  Hovey,  and  A.  J.  Smith,  and 
Steadman,  and  some  who  have  sealed  their  devotion  to 
their  country  with  their  blood.  Canby,  Steele,  and  Wilson, 
and  those  operating  in  the  remotest  sections  of  the  country, 
might  be  embraced  in  a  work  that  proposed  to  give 
an  account  of  Grant's  Generals,  because  his  command  em- 
braced the  entire  military  of  the  Republic ;  but,  as  I  said, 
I  chose  to  limit  myself  to  those  holding  high  or  separate 
commands  in  the  armies  he  and  Sherman  led,  or  who  had 
grown  up  under  their  training,  leaving  to  other  pens,  or 
to  another  place,  the  narrative  of  their  great  deeds. 


APPEND  IX, 


REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BELMONT,  MO.,  FOUGHT 
NOVEMBER  7,  1861. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ^ 
WASHINGTON,  Jivne  26JA,  1865.  $ 

Son.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  State : 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  full  and  complete  return 
of  the  battle  of  Belmont,  Missouri,  fought  Nov.  7,  1861,  which  I  would  re- 
spectfully ask  to  have  substituted  in  the  place  of  my  report  of  that  action  of 
date  Nov.  19,  1861,  made  to  Gen.  S.  Williams,  Assistant  Adjutant-General 
to  the  General-in-Chief.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieut.-Gen. 

Referred  to  the  Adjutant-General  for  publication  with  the  accompanying 
report.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

.TtW  27,1865. 

HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  SOUTHEAST  MISSOURI,  ? 
CAIRO,  111.,  Nov.  17,  1861.  $ 

GENERAL  :  The  following  order  was  received  from  Headquarters  Western 
Department : 

ST.  Louis,  Nov.  1, 186L 
Gen.  Grant,  Commanding  at  Cairo : 

You  are  hereby  directed  to  hold  your  whole  command  ready  to  march 
at  an  hour's  notice,  until  further  orders,  and  you  will  take  particular  care  to 
be  amply  supplied  with  transportation  and  ammunition.  You  are  also  di- 
rected to  make  demonstrations  with  your  troops  along  both  sides  of  the 
river  toward  Charleston,  Norfolk,  and  Blandville,  and  to  keep  your  columns 
constantly  moving  back  and  against  these  places,  without,  however,  attack- 
ing the  enemy.  Very  respectfully,  &c.. 

CHAUNCEY  McKEEVER, 

Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

At  the  same  time  I  was  notified  that  similar  instructions  had  been  sent 
to  Brig.-Gen.  0.  F.  Smith,  commanding  Paducah,  Ky.,  and  was  directed  to 
communicate  with  him  freely  as  to  my  movements,  that  his  might  be  co- 
operative. 


584  APPENDIX. 


On  the  2d  of  the  same  month,  and  before  it  was  possible  for  any  consid- 
erable preparation  to  have  been  made  for  the  execution  of  this  order,  the 
following  telegraphic  dispatch  was  received : 

ST.  Louis,  Nov.  2, 1861. 

To  Brig. -Gen.  Grant: 

Jeff.  Thompson  is  at  Indian  Ford  of  the  St.  Francis  River,  twenty-five 
miles  below  Greenville,  with  about  3fOOO  men.  Col.  Carlin  has  started  with 
force  from  Pilot  Knob.  Send  a  force  from  Cape  Girardeau  and  Bird's  Point 
to  assist  Carlin  in  driving  Thompson  into  Arkansas. 

By  order  of  Maj.-Gen.  FREMONT, 

C.  McKEEVEE,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

The  forces  I  determined  to  send  from  Bird's  Point  were  immediately  de- 
signated, and  Col.  E.  J.  Oglesby,  Eighth  Illinois  Volunteers,  assigned  to  the 
command,  under  the  following  detailed  instructions : 

HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  SOUTHEAST  MISSOURI,  ? 
CAIRO,  Nov.  3,  1861.  \ 

Col.  E.  J.  Oglesby,  Commanding,  &c.,  Bird's  Point,  Mo.  : 

You  will  take  command  of  an  expedition  consisting  of  your  re*giment, 
four  companies  of  the  Eleventh  Illinois,  all  of  the  Eighteenth  and  Twenty- 
ninth,  three  companies  of  cavalry  from  Bird's  Point  (to  be  selected  and  no- 
tified by  yourself),  and  a  section  of  Schwartz's  Battery,  artillery,  and  pro- 
ceed to  Commerce,  Missouri.  From  Commerce  you  will  strike  for  Sikeston — 
Mr.  Cropper  acting  as  guide.  From  there  go  in  pursuit  of  a  rebel  force 
understood  to  be  3,000  strong,  tinder  Jeff.  Thompson,  now  at  Indian  Ford, 
on  the  St.  Francis  River. 

An  expedition  has  already  left  Ironton,  Mo.,  to  attack  this  force.  Should 
they  learn  that  they  have  left  that  place,  it  will  -not  be  necessary  for  you  to 
go  there,  but  pursue  the  enemy  in  any  direction  he  may  go ;  always  being 
cautious  not  to  fall  in  with  an  unlooked-for  foe  too  strong  for  the  command 
under  you. 

The  object  of  the  expedition  is  to  destroy  this  force,  and  the  manner  of 
doing  it  is  left  largely  at  your  discretion ;  believing  it  better  not  to  trammel 
you  with  instructions. 

Transportation  will  be  furnished  you  for  fourteen  days'  rations  and  four 
or  five  days'  forage.  All  you  may  require  outside  of  this  must  be  furnished 
by  the  country  through  which  you  pass.  In  taking  supplies  you  will  be 
careful  to  select  a  proper  officer  to  press  them,  and  require  a  receipt  to  be 
given,  and  the  articles  pressed  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
purchased. 

You  are  particularly  enjoined  to  allow  no  foraging  by  your  men.  It  is 
demoralizing  in  the  extreme,  and  is  apt  to  make  open  enemies  where  they 
would  not  otherwise  exist.  U.  S.  GRANT,  Brigadier-General. 

Col.  J.  B.  Plummer,  Eleventh  Missouri  Volunteers,  commanding  at  Cape 
Girardeau,  was  directed  to  send  one  regiment  in  the  direction  of  Bloomfield 
with  a  view  to  attracting  the  attention  of  the  enemy. 

The  forces  under  Col.  Oglesby  were  all  got  off  on  the  evening  of  the  3d. 

On  the  5th.  a  telegram  was  received  from  headquarters,  St.  Louis,  stat- 
mg  that  the  enemy  was  reinforcing  Price's  army,  from  Columbus,  by  way 
of  White  River,  and  directing  that  the  demonstration  that  had  been  ordered 
against  Columbus  be  immediately  made.  Orders  were  accordingly  at  onca 
given  to  the  troops  under  my  command  that  remained  at  Cairo,  Bird's  Point, 


REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BELMONT.       585 


and  Fort  Holt.  A  letter  was  also  sent  to  Brig.-Gen.  0.  F.  Smith,  command- 
ing at  Paducah,  requesting  him  to  make  a  demonstration  at  the  same  time 
against  Columbus. 

To  more  effectually  attain  the  object  of  the  demonstration  against  the 
enemy  at  Belmont  and  Columbus,  I  determined,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th, 
to  temporarily  change  the  direction  of  Col.  Oglesby's  column  toward  New 
Madrid,  and  also  to  send  a  small  force  under  Col.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  Eleventh 
Illinois  Volunteers,  to  Charleston,  Mo.,  to  ultimately  join  Col.  Oglesby. 
In  accordance  with  this  determination  I  addressed  Col.  Oglesby  the  follow- 
ing communication : 

CAIRO,  Nov.  6,  1861. 

Gol.  R.  J.  Oglesby,  Commanding  Expedition  : 

On  receipt  of  this,  turn  your  column  toward  New  Madrid.  When  you 
arrive  at  the  nearest  point  to  Columbus  from  which  there  is  a  road  to  that 
place,  communicate  with  me  at  Belmont. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Brigadier-General. 

Which  was  sent  to  Col.  Wallace  with  the  following  letter: 

CAIRO,  Nov.  6,  1861. 

Col  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  Bird's  Point,  Mo.  : 

Herewith  I  send  you  an  order  to  Col.  Oglesby  to  change  the  direction  of 
his  column  toward  New  Madrid,  halting  to  communicate  with  me  at  Belmont 
from  the  nearest  point  on  his  road. 

I  desire  you  to  get  up  the  Charleston  expedition  ordered  for  to-morrow, 
to  start  to-night,  taking  two  days'  rations  with  them.  You  will  accompany 
them  to  Charleston,  and  get  Col.  Oglesby's  instructions  to  him  by  a  messen- 
ger, if  practicable,  and  when  he  is  near  enough  you  may  join  him.  For  this 
purpose  you  may  substitute  the  remainder  of  your  regiment  in  place  of  an 
equal  amount  from  Col.  Marsh's.  The  two  days'  rations  carried  by  your 
men  in  haversacks  will  enable  you  to  join  Col.  Oglesby's  command,  and 
there  you  will  find  rations  enough  for  several  days  more  should  they  be  ne- 
cessary. You  may  take  a  limited  number  of  tents,  and  at  Charleston  press 
wagons  to  carry  them  to  the  main  column.  There  you  will  find  sufficient 
transportation  to  release  the  pressed  wagons. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Brigadier-General. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  I  left  this  place  on  steamers,  with  McClernand's 
brigade,  consisting  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  Col. 
N.  B.  Buford;  Thirtieth  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  Col.  Philip  B.  Foulke; 
Thirty-first  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  Col.  John  A.  Logan;  Dollins' 
Company  Independent  Illinois  Cavalry,  Capt.  J.  J.  Dollins ;  Delano's  Com- 
pany Adams  County  Illinois  Cavalry,  Lieut.  J.  R.  Catlin.  Dougherty's  bri- 
gade, consisting  of  the  Twenty-second  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  Lieut.- 
Col.  H.  E.  Hart;  Seventh  Regiment  Iowa  Volunteers,  Col.  J.  G.  Lanman; 
amounting  to  3,114  men  of  all  arms,  to  make  the  demonstration  against 
Columbus.  I  proceeded  down  the  river  to  a  point  nine  miles  below  here, 
where  we  lay  until  next  morning,  on  the  Kentucky  shore,  which  served  to 
distract  the  enemy  and  lead  him  to  suppose  that  he  was  to  be  attacked  in 
his  strongly  fortified  position  at  Columbus. 

About  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  Tth,  I  received  information 
from  Col.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  at  Charleston  (sent  by  a  messenger  on  board 
steamer  W.  H.  B.\  that  he  had  learned  from  a  reliable  Union  man  that  the 
enemy  had  been  crossing  from  Columbus  to  Belmont  the  day  before,  for  the 


586  APPENDIX. 

purpose  of  following  after  and  cutting  off  the  forces  under  Col.  Oglesby. 
Such  a  move  on  his  part  seemed  to  me  more  than  probable,  and  gave  at 
once  a  two-fold  importance  to  my  demonstration  against  the  enemy,  namely : 
the  prevention  of  reinforcements  to  Gen.  Price,  and  the  cutting  off  of  the 
two  columns  that  I  had  sent,  in  pursuance  of  directions,  from  this  place  and 
Cape  Girardeau  in  pursuit  of  Jeff.  Thompson.  This  information  determined 
me  to  attack  vigorously  his  forces  at  Belmont ;  knowing  that  should  we  be 
repulsed,  we  could  reembark  without  difficulty  under  the  protection  of  the 
gunboats.  The  following  order  was  given: 

ON  BOARD  STEAMER  BELLE  MEMPHIS,  > 
Nov.  7,  1861—2  o'clock  A.  M.      \ 

SPECIAL  ORDER: — The  troops  composing  the  present  expedition  from  this 
place  will  move  promptly  at  six  o'clock  this  morning.  The  gunboats  will 
take  the  advance,  and  be  followed  by  the  First  Brigade,  under  command  of 
Brig.-Gen.  John  A.  McClernand,  composed  of  all  the  troops  from  Cairo  and 
Fort  Holt.  The  Second  Brigade,  comprising  the  remainder  of  the  troops  of 
the  expedition,  commanded  by  Col.  John  Dougherty,  will  follow.  The  en- 
tire force  will  debark  at  the  lowest  point  on  the  Missouri  shore  where  a 
landing  can  be  effected  in  security  from  the  rebel  batteries.  The  point  of 
debarkation  will  be  designated  by  Capt.  Walke,  commanding  naval  forces. 
By  order  of  Brig.-Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT. 

JOHN  A.  KAWLINS,  A.  A.  G. 

Promptly  at  the  hour  designated  we  proceeded  down  the  river  to  a  point 
just  out  of  range  of  the  rebel  batteries  at  Columbus,  and  debarked  on  the 
Missouri  shore.  From  here  the  troops  were  marched,  with  skirmishers  well 
in  advance,  by  flank  for  about  one  mile  towards  Belmont,  and  there  formed 
in  line  of  battle.  One  battalion  had  been  left  as  a  reserve  near  the  trans- 
ports. Two  companies  from  each  regiment  were  thrown  forward  as  skir- 
mishers, to  ascertain  the  position  of  the  enemy,  and  about  nine  o'clock  met 
and  engaged  him.  The  balance  of  my  force,  with  the  exception  of  the  re- 
serve, was  promptly  thrown  forward,  and  drove  the  enemy  foot  by  foot,  and 
from  tree  to  tree,  back  to  his  encampment  on  the  river  bank,  a  distance  of 
over  two  miles.  Here  he  had  strengthened  his  position  by  felling  the  timber 
for  several  hundred  yards  around  his  camp,  making  a  sort  of  abattis.  Our 
men  charged  through  this,  driving  the  enemy  under  cover  of  the  bank,  and 
many  of  them  into  their  transports  in  quick  time,  leaving  us  in  possession  of 
everything  not  exceedingly  portable. 

Belmont  is  situated  on  low  ground,  and  every  foot  is  commanded  by  the 
guns  on  the  opposite  shore,  and,  of  course,  could  not  be  held  for  a  single  hour 
after  the  enemy  became  aware  of  the  withdrawal  of  his  troops.  Having  no 
wagons  with  me,  I  could  move  but  little  of  the  captured  property,  conse- 
quently gave  orders  for  the  destruction  of  everything  that  could  not  be  re- 
moved, and  an  immediate  return  to  our  transports.  Tents,  blankets,  &c., 
were  set  on  fire  and  destroyed,  and  our  return  march  commenced,  taking  hia 
artillery  and  a  large  number  of  captured  horses  and  prisoners  with  us. 
Three  pfeces  of  artillery  being  drawn  by  hand,  and  one  by  an  inefficient 
team,  were  spiked  and  left  on  the  road  ;  two  were  brought  to  tnis  place. 

We  had  but  fairly  got  under  way  when  the  enemy,  having  received  rein- 
forcements, rallied  under  cover  of  the  river  bank  and  the  woods  on  the  point 
of  land  in  the  bend  of  the  river  above  us,  and  made  his  appearance  between 
us  and  our  transports,  evidently  with  a  design  of  cutting  off  our  return  to 
them. 


REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BELMONT.        587 


Our  troops  were  not  in  the  least  discouraged,  but  charged  the  enemy  and 
again  defeated  him.  We  then,  with  the  exception  of  the  Twenty-seventh 
Illinois,  Colonel  N.  B.  Buford  commanding,  reached  onr  transports  and  em- 
barked without  further  molestation.  While  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  this 
regiment  and  to  get  some  of  our  wounded  from  a  field  hospital  near  by,  the 
enemy,  having  crossed  fresh  troops  from  Columbus,  again  made  his  appear- 
ance on  the  river  bank  and  commenced  firing  upon  our  transports.  The  fire 
was  returned  by  our  men  from  the  decks  of  the  steamers,  and  also  by  the 
gunboats,  with  terrible  effect,  compelling  him  to  retire  in  the  direction  of 
Belmont.  In  the  meantime  Colonel  Buford,  although  he  had  received  orders 
to  return  with  the  main  force,  took  the  Charleston  road  from  Belmont  and 
came  in  on  the  road  leading  to  Bird's  Point,  where  we  had  formed  the  line 
of  battle  in  the  morning.  At  this  point,  to  avoid  the  shells  from  the  gun- 
boats that  were  beginning  to  fall  among  his  men,  he  took  a  blind  path  direct 
to  the  river,  and  followed  a  wood  road  up  its  bank,  and  thereby  avoided 
meeting  the  enemy,  who  were  retiring  by  the  main  road.  On  his  appear- 
ance on  the  river  bank  a  steamer  was  dropped  down  and  took  his  command 
on  board,  without  his  having  participated  or  lost  a  man  in  the  enemy's  at- 
tempt to  cut  us  off  from  our  transports. 

Notwithstanding  the  crowded  state  of  our  transports,  the  only  loss  we  sus- 
tained from  the  enemy's  fire  upon  them,  was  three  men  wounded,  one  of 
whom  belonged  to  one  of  the  boats. 

Our  loss  in  killed  on  the  field  was  eighty-five,  three  hundred  and  one 
wounded,  (many  of  them,  however,  slightly,)  and  ninety-nine  missing.  Of 
the  wounded  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
Nearly  all  the  missing  were  from  the  Seventh  Iowa  regiment,  which  suffered 
more  severely  than  any  other.  All  the  troops  behaved  with  great  gallantry, 
which  was  in  a  degree  attributable  to  the  coolness  and  presence  of  mind  of 
their  officers,  particularly  the  Colonels  commanding. 

General  McClernand  was  in  the  midst  of  danger  throughout  the  engage- 
ment, and  displayed  both  coolness  and  judgment.  His  horse  was  three 
times  shot  under  him. 

Colonel  Dougherty,  of  the  Twenty-second  Illinois  volunteers,  command- 
ing the  Second  Brigade,  by  his  coolness  and  bravery,  entitles  himself  to  be 
named  among  the  most  competent  of  officers  for  command  of  troops  in 
battle.  In  our  second  engagement  he  was  three  times  wounded,  and  fell  a 
prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

Among  the  killed  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  Wentz,  Seventh  Iowa 
Volunteers,  and  among  the  wounded  were  Colonel  J.  G.  Lauman  and  Major 
E.  W.  Rice,  of  the  Seventh  Iowa. 

The  reports  of  sub -commanders  will  detail  more  fully  particulars  of  the 
engagements,  and  the  conduct  of  both  officers  and  men. 

To  my  staff,  Captain  John  A.  Kawlins,  Assistant  Adjutant-General; 
Lieutenants  C.  B.  Lagow  and  Wm.  S.  Hillyer,  Aids-de-Camp,  and  Captain  R. 
B.  Hatch,  Assistant  Quartermaster,  I  am  much  indebted  for  the  promptitude 
with  which  they  discharged  their  several  duties. 

Surgeon  J.  II.  Brinton,  United  States  Volunteers,  chief  medical  officer, 
was  on  the  field  during  the  entire  engagement,  and  displayed  great  ability 
and  efficiency  in  providing  for  the  wounded,  and  in  organizing  the  medical 
corps. 

Major  J.  D.  Webster,  Acting  Chief  Engineer,  also  accompanied  me  on  the 
field,  and  displayed  soldierly  qualities  of  a  high  order. 

My  own  horse  was  shot  under  me  during  the  engagement. 

The  gunboats  "  Tyler,"  Captain  Walke,  and  "  Lexington,"  Captain  Stem- 


588  APPENDIX. 


bolt,  conveyed  the  expedition  and  rendered  most  efficient  service.  Immedi- 
ately upon  our  landing,  they  engaged  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  heights 
above  Columbus,  and  protected  our  transports  throughout.  For  a  detailed 
account  of  the  part  taken  by  them,  I  refer  with  pleasure  to  the  accom- 
paning  report  of  Captain  H.  S.  Walke,  senior  officer. 

In  pursuance  of  my  request,  General  Smith,  commanding  at  Paducah, 
sent  on  the  Vth  instant  a  force  to  Mayfield,  Kentucky,  and  another  m  the  di- 
rection of  Columbus,  with  orders  not  to  approach  nearer,  however,  than 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  of  that  place.  I  also  sent  a  small  force  on  the  Ken- 
tucky side  towards  Columbus,  under  Colonel  John  Cook,  Seventh  Illinois 
Volunteers,  with  orders  not  to  go  beyond  Elliott's  Mills,  distant  some  twelve 
miles  from  Columbus.  These  forces  having  marched  to  the  points  designated 
in  their  orders,  returned,  without  having  met  serious  resistance. 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th  information  of  the  result  of  the  engagement 
atBelmont  was  sent  to  Colonel  Oglesby,  commanding  expedition  against 
Jeff.  Thompson,  and  order,  to  return  to  Bird's  Point  by  way  of  Charleston, 
Missouri.  Before  these  reached  him,  however,  he  had  learned  that  Jeff. 
Thompson  had  left  the  place  where  he  was  reported  to  be  when  the  expe- 
dition started,  (he  having  gone  toward  New  Madrid  or  Arkansas,)  and  had 
determined  to  return.  The  same  information  was  sent  to  the  commanding 
officer  at  Cape  Girardeau,  with  directions  for  the  troops  to  be  brought  back 
that  had  gone  out  from  that  place. 

From  all  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  since  the  en- 
gagement, the  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  much  greater  than 
ours.  We  captured  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  prisoners,  all  his  artillery 
and  transportation,  and  destroyed  his  entire  camp  and  garrison  equipage. 
Independent  of  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  him,  and  the  prevention  of  his  re- 
inforcing Price,  or  sending  a  force  to  cut  off  the  expeditions  against  Jeff. 
Thompson,  the  confidence  inspired  in  our  troops  in  the  engagement  will  be 
of  incalculable  benefit  to  us  in  the  future.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  U.  S.  GRANT,  Brigadier-General. 

Brigadier-General  SETH  WILLIAMS,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  Washing- 
ton, D.  0. 


GRANT'S  ORDERS  WHILE  AT  MEMPHIS. 

DISTRICT  OF  WEST  TENNESSEE, 
OFFICE  PROVOST-MARSHAL  GENERAL, 
MKMPHIS,  TENN.,  July  10,  1862. 

The  constant  communication  between  the  so-called  Confederate  army 
and  their  friends  and  sympathizers  in  the  city  of  Memphis,  despite  the  or- 
ders heretofore  issued,  and  the  efforts  to  enforce  them,  induced  the  issuing 
of  the  following  order : 

The  families  now  residing  in  the  city  of  Memphis  of  the  following  per- 
sons, are  required  to  move  south  beyond  the  lines  within  five  days  of  the 
date  hereof: 

First.  All  persons  holding  commissions  in  the  go-called^ Confederate 
army,  or  who  have  voluntarily  enlisted  in  said  army,  or  who  accompany  and 
are  connected  with  the  same. 


GRANT'S  ORDERS  WHILE  AT  MEMPHIS.      589 

Second,  All  persons  holding  office  under  or  in  the  employ  of  the  so- 
called  Confederate  Government. 

Third.  All  persons  holding  State,  county,  or  municipal  offices,  who 
claim  allegiance  to  said  so-called  Confederate  Government,  and  who  have 
abandoned  their  families  and  gone  South. 

Safe  conduct  will  be  given  to  the  parties  hereby  required  to  leave,  upon 
•  application  to  the  Provost-Marshal  of  Memphis. 

By  command  of  Major- General  GRANT. 

DISTRICT  OF  WEST  TENNESSEE,      ) 

OFFICE  OF  THE  PROVOST-MARSHAL  GENERAL,  > 

MEMPHIS,  TENN.,  July  11, 1862.     \ 

******* 

In  order  that  innocent,  peaceable,  and  well-disposed  persons  may  not 
suffer  for  the  bad  conduct  of  the  guilty  parties  coming  within  the  purview 
of  Special  Order  No.  14,  dated  July  10,  1862,  they  can  be  relieved  from  the 
operation  of 'said  order  No.  14,  by  signing  the  following  parole,  and  produc- 
ing to  the  Provost-Marshal  General,  or  the  Provost-Marshal  of  Memphis, 
satisfactory  guarantees  that  they  will  keep  the  pledge  therein  made: 

PAEOLE. 

First.  "  I  have  not,  since  the  occupation  of  the  city  of  Memphis  by  the 
Federal  army,  given  any  aid  to  the  so-called  Confederate  army,  nor  given  or 
sent  any  information  of  the  movements,  strength,  or  position  of  the  Fed- 
eral army  to  any  one  connected  with  said  Confederate  army. 

Second.  "I  will  not,  during  the  occupancy  of  Memphis  by  the  Federal 
army,  and  my  residing  therein,  oppose  or  conspire  against  the  civil  or  mili- 
tary authority  of  the  United  States;  and  I  will  not  give  aid,  comfort,  or 
encouragement  to  the  so-called  Confederate  army,  nor  to  any  person  coop- 
erating therewith. 

"  All  of  which  I  state  and  pledge  upon  my  sacred  honor." 

By  command  of  Major-General  GEANT. 

WILLIAM  S.  HILLYEE,  Provost-Marshal  General. 


CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    SHERMAN    AND    THE 
AUTHORITIES   OF  ATLANTA. 

"  ATLANTA,  G-A.,  September  1L 

" Major- General  W.  T.  Sherman: 

"  SIB:  The  undersigned  mayor,  and  two  members  of  council  for  the  city 
of  Atlanta,  for  the  time  being  the  only  legal  organ  of  the  people  of  the  said 
city,  to  express  their  wants  ;md  wishes,  ask  leave  most  earnestly,  but  re- 
spectfully, to  petition  you  to  reconsider  the  order  requiring  them  to  leave 
Atlanta.  At  first  view  it  struck  us  that  the  measure  would  involve  extraor- 
dinary hardship  and  loss,  but  since  we  have  seen  the  practical  execution  of 
it,  so  far  as  it  has  progressed,  and  the  individual  condition  of  many  of  the 
people,  and  heard  their  statements  as  to  the  inconveniences,  loss,  and  suffer- 
ing attending  it,  we  are  satisfied  that  the  amount  of  it  will  involve  in  the 


590  APPENDIX. 


aggregate  consequences  appalling  and  heartrending.  Many  poor  women  are 
in  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy ;  others  now  having  young  children,  and 
whose  husbands  are  either  in  the  army,  prisoners,  or  dead.  Some  say :  '  I 
have  such  a  one  sick  at  home;  who  will  wait  on  them  when  I  am  gone?' 
Others  say:  'What  are  we  to  do?  We  have  no  houses  to  go  to,  and  no 
means  to  buy,  build,  or  to  rent  any — no  parents,  friends,  or  relatives  to  go 
to.'  Another  says:  'I  will  try  and  take  this  or  that  article  of  property,  but 
such  and  such  things  I  must  leave  behind,  though  I  need  them  much.'  We 
reply  to  them:  'General  Sherman  will  carry  your  property  to  Rough  and 
Ready,  and  General  Hood  will  take  it  there  on.'  And  they  will  reply  to 
this  :  '  But  I  want  to  leave  the  railroad  at  such  a  point,  and  cannot  get  convey- 
ance from,  there  onj.  We  only  refer  to  a  few  facts  to  try  to  illustrate  in  part 
how  the  measure  will  operate  in  practice.  As  you  advanced,  the  people 
north  of  us  fell  back,  and  before  your  arrival  here  a  large  portion  of  the 
people  had  retired  south,  so  that  the  country  south  of  this  is  already  crowd- 
ed, and  without  houses  to  accommodate  the  people;  and  we  are  informed 
that  many  are  now  staying  in  churches  and  other  out-buildings.  This  being 
so,  how  is  it  possible  for^the  people  still  here  (mostly  women  and  children) 
to  find  any  shelter  ?  and  how  can  they  live  through  the  winter  in  the  woods 
— no  shelter  or  subsistence — in  the  midst  of  strangers  who  know  them  not, 
and  without  the  power  to  assist  them,  if  they  were  willing  to  do  so?  This 
is  but  a  feeble  picture  of  the  consequences  of  this  measure.  You  know  the 
woe,  the  horror,  and  the  suffering  cannot  be  described  by  words.  Imagina- 
tion can  only  conceive  of  it,  and  we  nsk  you  to  take  these  things  into  con- 
sideration. We  know  your  mind  and  time  are  constantly  occupied  with  the 
duties  of  your  command,  which  almost  deter  us  from  asking  your  attention 
to  this  matter ;  but  thought  it  might  be  that  you  had  not  considered  the  sub- 
ject in  all  its  awful  consequences,  and  that  on  more  reflection,  you,  we  hope, 
would  not  make  this  people  an  exception  to  all  mankind ;  for  we  know  of 
no  such  instance  ever  having  occurred— surely  none  such  in  the  United 
States ;  and  what  has  this  helpless  people  done,  that  they  should  be  driven 
from  their  homes,  to  wander  as  strangers,  outcasts,  and  exiles,  and  to  sub- 
sist on  charity  ?  We  do  not  know,  as  yet,  the  number  of  people  still  here. 
Of  those  who  are  here  we  are  satisfied  a  respectable  number,  if  allowed  to 
remain  at  home,  could  subsist  for  several  months  without  assistance,  and  a 
respectable  number  for  a  much  longer  time,  and  who  might  not  need  assist- 
ance at  any  time.'  In  conclusion,  we  most  earnestly  and  solemnly  petition 
you  to  reconsider  this  order,  or  modify  it,  and  suffer  this  unfortunate  people 
fco  remain  at  home  and  enjoy  what  little  means  they  have. 
"  Respectfully  submitted, 

"JAMES  M.  CALIIOUX,  Mayor. 


Here  is  General  Sherman's  answer  to  the  letter  of  Mayor  Calhoun  and 
the  Councilmen  of  Atlanta: 

"  HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  September  12, 1864.         $ 

"  James  M.  Calhoun,  Mayor,  E.  E.  Rawson  and  8.  C.  Wells,  representing  City 

Council  of  Atlanta: 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  have  your  letter  of  the  llth,  in  the  nature  of  a  petition 
to  revoke  my  order  removing  all  the  inhabitants  from  Atlanta.  I  have  read 
it  carefully,  and  give  full  credit  to  your  statements  of  the  distress  that  will 


SHERMAN'S  LETTER  AT  ATLANTA.       591 

be  occasioned  by  it,  and  yet  shall  not  revoke  my  order,  simply  because  my 
orders  are  not  designed  to  meet  the  humanities  of  the  case,  but  to  prepare 
for  the  future  struggle  in  which  millions,  yea,  hundreds  of  millions  of  good 
people  outside  of  Atlanta  have  a  deep  interest.  We  must  have  peace,  not 
only  in  Atlanta,  but  in  all  America.  To  secure  this,  we  must  stop  the  war 
that  now  desolates  our  once  liappy  and  favored  country.  To  stop  the  war, 
we  must  defeat  the  rebel  armies  that  are  arrayed  against  the  laws  and  Con- 
stitution which  all  men  must  respect  and  obey.  To  defeat  these  armies,  we 
must  prepare  the  way  to  reach  them  in  their  recesses,  provided  with  the 
arms  and  instruments  which  enable  us  to  accomplish  our  purpose. 

"  Now  I  know  the  vindictive  nature  of  our  enemy,  and  that  we  may  have 
many  years  of  military  operations  from  this  quarter,  and  therefore  deem  it 
wise  and  prudent  to  prepare  in  time.  The  use  of  Atlanta  for  warlike  pur- 
poses is  inconsistent  with  its  character  as  a  home  for  families.  There  will 
be  no  manufactures,  commerce,  or  agriculture  here  for  the  maintenance  of 
families,  and,  sooner  or  later,  want  will  compel  the  inhabitants  to  go.  Why 
not  go  now,  when  all  the  arrangements  are  completed  for  the  transfer,  in- 
stead of  waiting  until  the  plunging  shot  of  contending  armies  will  renew  the 
scenes  of  the  past  month  ?  Of  course  I  do  not  apprehend  any  such  thing 
at  this  moment,  but  you  do  not  suppose  this  army  will  be  here  till  the 
war  is  over?  I  cannot  discuss  this  subject  with  you  fairly,  because  I  cannot 
impart  to  you  what  I  propose  to  do ;  but  I  assert  that  my  military  plans 
make  it  necessary  for  the  inhabitants  to  go  away,  and  I  can  only  renew  my 
offer  of  services  to  make  their  exodus  in  any  direction  as  easy  and  comfort- 
able as  possible.  You  cannot  qualify  war  in  harsher  terms  than  I  will. 

"  War  is  cruelty,  and  you  cannot  refine  it ;  and  those  who  brought  war 
on  our  country  deserve  all  the  curses  and  maledictions  a  people  can  pour  out. 
I  know  I  had  no  hand  in  making  this  war,  and  I  know  that  I  will  make 
more  sacrifices  than  any  of  you  to-day  to  secure  peace.  But  you  cannot 
have  peace  and  a  division  of  our  country.  If  the  United  States  submits  to 
a  division  now,  it  will  not  stop,  but  will  go  on  till  we  reap  the  fate  of  Mex- 
ico, which  is  eternal  war.  The  United  States  does  and  must  assert  its  au- 
thority wherever  it  has  power — if  it  relaxes  one  bit  of  pressure  it  is  gone, 
and  I  know  that  such  is  not  the  national  feeling.  This  feeling  assumes  vari- 
ous shapes,  but  always  comes  back  to  that  of  Union.  Once  admit  the  Union, 
once  more  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  National  Government,  and  in- 
stead of  devoting  your  houses,  and  streets,  and  roads  to  the  dread  uses  of 
war,  I  and  this  army  become  at  once  your  protectors  and  supporters,  shield- 
ing you  from  danger,  let  it  come  from  what  quarter  it  may.  I  know  that  a 
few  individuals  cannot  resist  a  torrent  of  error  and  passion  such  as  has  swept 
the  South  into  rebellion  ;  but  you  can  point  out,  so  that  we  may  know  those 
who  desire  a  Government,  and  those  who  insist  on  war  and  its  desolation. 

"  You  might  as  well  appeal  against  the  thunder-storm  as  against  the  ter- 
rible hardships  of  war.  They  are  inevitable,  and  the  only  way  the  people 
of  Atlanta  can  hope  once  more  to  live  in  peace  and  quiet  at  home,  is  to  stop 
this  war,  which  can  alone  be  done  by  admitting  that  it  began  in  error,  and  is 
perpetuated  in  pride.  We  don't  want  your  negroes,  or  your  horses,  or  your 
houses,  or  your  land,  or  anything  you  have ;  but  we  do  want  and  will  have  a 
just  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  That  we  will  have;  and 
if  it  involves  the  destruction  of  your  improvements,  we  cannot  help  it.  You 
have  heretofore  read  public  sentiment  in  your  newspapers,  that  live  by  false- 
hood and  excitement,  and  the  quicker  you  seek  for  truth  in  other  quarters 
the  better  for  you. 

"I  repeat,  then,  that  by  the  original  compact  of  government,  the  United 


592  APPENDIX. 

States  had  certain  rights  in  Georgia  which  have  never  been  relinquished, 
and  never  will  be:  that  the  South  began  the  war  by  seizing  forts,  arsenals, 
mints,  custom-houses.  &c.,  long  before  Mr.  Lincoln  was  installed,  and  beforo 
the  South  had  one  jot  or  tittle  of  provocation.  I  myself  have  seen  in  Mis- 
souri, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi,  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
women  and  children  fleeing  from  your  armies  and  desperadoes,  hungry,  and 
with  bleeding  feet.  In  Memphis,  Vicksburg,  and  Mississippi,  we  fed  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  of  the  families  of  rebel  soldiers  left  on  our  hands,  and 
whom  we  could  not  see  starve.  Now  that  war  comes  home  to  you,  you  feel 
very  different — you  deprecate  its  horrors,  but  did  not  feel  them  when  you 
Bent  carloads  of  soldiers  and  ammunition,  and  moulded  shells  and  shot  to 
carry  war  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  desolate  the  homes  of  Jiundreds 
and  thousands  of  good  people,  who  only  asked  to  live  in  peace  at  their  old 
homes,  and  under  the  Government  of  their  inheritance.  But  these  compar- 
isons are  idle.  I  want  peace,  and  believe  it  only  can  be  reached  through 
Union  and  war,  and  I  will  ever  conduct  war  purely  with  a  view  to  perfect 
and  early  success. 

"But,  my  dear  sirs,  when  that  peace  does  come,  you  may  call  on  me  for 
anything.  Then  will  I  share  with  you  the  last  cracker,  and  watch  with  you 
to  shield  your  homes  and  families  against  danger  from  every  quarter.  Now 
you  must  go,  and  take  with  you  the  old  and  feeble.  Feed  and  nurse  them, 
and  build  for  them  in  more  quiet  places  proper  habitations  to  shield  them 
against^  the  weather,  until  the  mad  passions  of  men  cool  down,  and  allow 
the  Union  and  peace  once  more  to  settle  on  your  old  homes  at  Atlanta. 

"  Yours,  in  haste,  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 


REPORT  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CAROLINAR 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ? 
GOLDSBORO,  N.  C.,  April  tih,  1865.  $ 

GENERAL, — I  must  now  endeavor  to  group  the  events  of  the  past  three 
months,  connected  with  the  armies  under  my  command,  in  order  that  you 
may  have  as  clear  an  understanding  of  the  late  campaign  as  the  case  admits 
of.  The  reports  of  the  subordinate  commanders  will  enable  you  to  fill  up 
the  picture. 

1  have  heretofore  explained  how,  in  the  progress  of  our  arms,  I  was  en- 
abled to  leave  in  the  West  an  army  under  Major-General  George  H.  Thomas 
of  sufficient  strength  to  meet  emergencies  in  that  quarter,  while  in  person  I 
conducted  another  army,  composed  of  the  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth, 
and  Twentieth  Corps,  and  Kilpatrick's  division  of  cavalry,  to  the  Atlantic 
riope,  aiming  to  approach  the  grand  theatre  of  war  in  Virginia  by  the  time 
the  season  would  admit  of  military  operations  in  that  latitude.  The  first 
lodgment  on  the  coast  was  made  at  Savannah,  strongly  fortified  and  armed, 
and  valuable  to  us  as  a  good  seaport,  with  its  navigable  stream  inland. 
Near  a  month  was  consumed  there  in  refitting  the  army,  and  in  making  the 
proper  disposition  of  captured  property,  :md  other  local  matters  ;  but  by  the 
15th  of  January  I  was  all  ready  to  resume  the  march.  Preliminary  to* this, 
General  Howard,  commanding  the  right  wing,  was  ordered  to  embark  his 
command  at  Thunderbolt,  transport  it  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  and 


CAMPAIGN    OF   THE    CAROLINAS.  593 


thence  by  the  15th  of  January  make  a  lodgment  on  the  Charleston  Railroad 
at  or  near  Pocotaligo.  This  was  accomplished  punctually,  at  little  cost,  by 
the  Seventeenth  Corps,  Major-General  Blair,  and  a  depdt  for  supplies  waa 
established  near  the  mouth  of  Pocotaligo  Creek,  with  easy  water  communi- 
cation back  to  Hilton  Head. 

The  left  wing,  Major-General  Slocum,  and  the  cavalry,  Major-General 
Kil  patrick,  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  about  the  same  time  near  Roberts- 
yille  and  Ooosahatchie,  South  Carolina,  with  a  depot  of  supplies  at  Pureys- 
burg  or  State's  Ferry,  on  the  Savannah  River.  General  Slocum  had  a  good 
pontoon  bridge  constructed  opposite  the  city,  and  the  "  Union  Causeway," 
leading  through  the  low  rice-fields  opposite  Savannah,  was  repaired  and 
"  corduroyed  ;  "  but  before  the  time  appointed  to  start,  the  heavy  rains  of 
January  had  swelled  the  river,  broken  the  pontoon  bridge,  and  overflowed  the 
whole  a  bottom,"  so  that  the  causeway  was  four  feet  under  water,  and  General 
Slocum  was  compelled  to  look  higher  up  for  a  passage  over  the  Savannah 
River.  He  moved  up  to  Sister's  Ferry,  but  even  there,  the  river,  with  its 
overflowed  bottom?,  was  near  three  miles  wide,  and  he  did  not  succeed  in 
getting  his  whole  wing  across  until  during  the  first  week  of  February. 

In  the  meantime  General  Grant  had  sent  me  Grover's  division  of  the 
Nineteenth  Corps  to  garrison  Savannah,  find  had  drawn  the  Twenty-third 
Corps,  Mfijor-General  Schofield,  from  Tennessee,  and  sent  it  to  reinforce  the 
commands  of  Major-Generals  Terry  and  Palmer,  operating  on  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina,  to  prepare  the  way  for  my  coming. 

On  the  18th  of  January  I  transferred  the  forts  and  city  of  Savannah  to 
Major-General  Foster,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  South,  imparted 
to  him  my  plans  of  operation,  and  instructed  him  how  to  follow  my  move- 
ments inland  by  occupying  in  succession  the  city  of  Charleston  and  such 
other  points  along  the  sea-coast  as  would  be  of  any  military  value  to  us. 
The  combined  naval  and  land  forces,  under  Admiral  Porter  and  General 
Terry  had,  on  the  loth  of  January,  captured  Fort  Fisher  and  the  rebel  forts 
at  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River,  giving  me  an  additional  point  of  security 
on  the  sea-coast.  But  I  had  already  resolved  in  my  own  mind,  and  had  so 
advised  General  Grant,  that  I  would  undertake  at  one  stride  to  make  Golds- 
boro',  and  open  communication  with  the  sea  by  the  Newborn  Railroad,  and 
had  ordered  Colonel  W.  "W.  Wright,  superintendent  of  military  railroads,  to 
proceed  in  advance  to  Newbern,  and  to  be  prepared  to  extend  the  railroad 
out  from  Newbern  to  Goldsboro'  by  the  15th  of  March. 

On  the  19th  of  January  all  preparations  were  complete,  and  the  orders 
of  march  were  given.  My  chief  quartermaster  and  Commissary  Generals 
Easton  and  Beckwith  were  ordered  to  complete  the  supplies  at  Sifter's  Ferry 
and  Pocotnligo,  and  then  to  follow  our  movements  coastwise,  looking  for  my 
arrival  at  Goldsboro',  North  Carolina,  about  March  15th,  and  opening  com- 
munication with  me  from  Morehead  City. 

On  the  22d  of  January  I  embarked  from  Savannah  for  Hilton  Head, 
•where  I  held  a  conference  with  Admiral  Dahlgren,  United  States  Navy,  and 
Major-General  Foster,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  South,  and  next 
proceeded  to  Beaufort,  riding  out  thence  on  the  24th  to  Pocotaligo,  where 
the  Seventeenth  Corps,  Major-General  Blair,  was  encamped.  The  Fifteenth 
Corps  was  somewhat  scattered — Wood's  and  Eazen's  divisions  at  Beau- 
fort, John  E.  Smith  marching  from  Savannah  by  the  coast  road,  and  Corse 
still  at  Savannah,  cut  off  by  the  storms  and  freshet  in  the  river.  On  the 
25th  a  demonstration  was  made  against  the  Combahee  Ferry  and  Railroad 
Bridge,  across  the  Satkahatchie,  merely  to  amuse  the  enemy,  who  had  evi- 
dently adopted  that  river  as  his  defensive  line  against  our  supposed  objective, 


594  APPENDIX. 


the  city  of  Charleston.  I  reconnoitred  the  line  in  person,  and  saw  that  th* 
heavy  rains  had  swollen  the  river  so  that  water  stood  in  the  swamps  for  a 
breadth  of  more  than  a  mile,  at  a  depth  of  from  one  to  twenty  feet.  Not 
having  the  remotest  intention  of  approaching  Charleston,  a  comparatively 
small  force  was  able,  by  seeming  preparations  to  cross  over,  to  keep  in  their 
front  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  disposed  to  contest  our  advance  on 
Charleston.  On  the  27th  I  rode  to  the  camp  of  General  Hatch's  division  of 
Foster's  command,  on  the  Tullafinney  and  Coosahatchie  Rivers,  and  directed 
those  places  to  be  evacuated,  as  no  longer  of  any  use  to  us.  That  division 
was  then  moved  to  Pocotaligo  to  keep  up  the  feints  already  begun,  until  we 
should,  with  the  right  wing,  move  higher  up  and  cross  the  Salkahatchie 
about  Broxton's  Bridge. 

On  the  29th  I  learned  that  the  roads  back  of  Savannah  had  at  last  be- 
come sufficiently  free  of  the  flood  to  admit  of  General  Slocum  putting  his 
wing  in  motion,  and  that  he  was  already  approaching  Sister's  Ferry,  whither 
a  gun-boat,  the  "Pontiac,"  Captain  Luce,  kindly  furnished  by  Admiral 
Dahlgren,  had  preceded  him  to  cover  the  crossing.  In  the  meantime  three 
divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  had  closed  up  at  Pocotaligo,  and  the  right 
wing  had  loaded  its  wagons  and  was  ready  to  start.  I,  therefore,  directed 
General  Howard  to  move  one  corps,  the  Seventeenth,  along  the  Salkahatchie, 
as  high  up  as  River's  Bridge,  and  the  other,  the  Fifteenth,  by  Hickory  Hill, 
Loper's  Cross-roads,  Anglesey  Post-office,  and  Beaufort's  Bridge.  Hatch's 
division  was  ordered  to  remain  at  Pocotaligo,  feigning  at  the  Salkahatchie 
Railroad  Bridge  and  Ferry,  until  our  movement  turned  the  enemy's  position 
and  forced  him  to  fall  behind  the  Edisto. 

The  Seventeenth  and  Fifteenth  Corps  drew  out  of  camp  on  the  31st  of 
January,  but  the  real  march  began  on  the  1st  of  February.  All  the  roads 
northward  had  for  weeks  been  held  by  Wheeler's  cavalry,  who  had,  by  de- 
tails of  negro  laborers,  felled  trees,  burned  bridges,  and  made  obstructions  to 
impede  our  march.  But  so  well  organized  were  our  pioneer  battalions,  and 
so  strong  and  intelligent  our  men,  that  obstructions  seemed  only  to  quicken 
their  progress.  Felled  trees  were  removed  and  bridges  rebuilt  by  the  heads 
of  columns  before  the  rear  could  close  up.  On  the  2d  of  February  the  Fif- 
teenth Corps  reached  Loper's  Cross-roads,  and  the  Seventeenth  was  at 
River's  Bridge.  From  Loper's  Cross-roads* I  communicated  with  General 
Slocum,  still  struggling  with  the  floods  of  the  Savannah  River  at  Sister's 
Ferry.  He  had  two  divisions  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  General  Williams,  on 
the  east  bank,  and  was  enabled  to  cross  over  on  his  pontoons  the  cavalry  of 
Kilpatrick.  General  Williams  was  ordered  to  Beaufort's  Bridge  by  way  of 
Lawtonville  and  Allandale,  Kilpatrick  to  Blackville  via  Barnwell,  and  Gener- 
al Slocum  to  hurry  the  crossing  at  Sister's  Ferry  as  much  as  possible,  and 
overtake  the  fight  wing  on  the  South  Carolina  Railroad.  General  Howard, 
with  the  right  wing,  was  directed  to  cross  the  Salkahatchie  and  push  rapidly 
for  the  South  Carolina  Railroad,  at  or  near  Midway.  The  enemy  held  the 
line  of  the  Salkahatchie  in  force,  having  infantry  and  artillery  intrenched  at 
River's  and  Beaufort's  Bridges.  The  Seventeenth  Corps  was  ordered  to 
carry  River's  Bridge,  and  the  Fifteenth  Corps  Beaufort's  Bridge.  The  for- 
mer position  was  carried  promptly  and  skilfully  by  Mower's  and  Giles  A. 
Smith's  divisions  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  on  the  3d  of  February,  by  crossing 
the  swamp,  nearly  three  miles  wide,  with  water  varying  from  knee  to  shoul- 
der deep.  The  weather  was  bitter  cold,  and  Generals  Mower  and  Smith  led 
their  divisions  in  person  on  foot,  waded  the  swamp,  made  a  lodgment  be- 
low the  bridge,  and  turned  on  the  rebel  brigade  which  guarded  it,  driving  it 
in  confusion  and  disorder  toward  Branchville.  Our  casualties  were  1  officer 


CAMPAIGN   OF   THE    CAKOLINAS.  595 


and  17  men  killed,  and  70  men  wounded,  who  were  sent  to  Pocotaligo.  The 
line  of  the  Salkahatchie  being  thus  broken,  the  enemy  retreated  at  once  be- 
hind the  Edisto  at  Branchville,  and  the  whole  army  was  pushed  rapidly  to 
the  South  Carolina  Railroad  at  Midway,  Bamberg  (or  Lowry's  Station),  and 
Graham's  Station.  The  Seventeenth  Corps,  by  threatening  Branchville, 
forced  the  enemy  to  burn  the  railroad  bridge,  and  Walker's  Bridge  below, 
across  the  Edisto.  All  hands  were  at  once  set  to  work  to  destroy  railroad  track. 
From  the  7th  to  the  10th  of  February  this  work  was  thoroughly  prosecuted 
by  the  Seventeenth  Corps  from  the  Edisto  up  to  Bamberg,  and  by  the  Fif- 
teenth Corps  from  Bamberg  up  to  Blackville.  In  the  meantime  General 
Kilpatrick  had  brought  his  cavalry  rapidly  by  Barnwell  to  Blackville,  and 
had  turned  towards  Aiken,  with  orders  to  threaten  Augusta,  but  not  to  be 
drawn  needlessly  into  a  serious  battle.  This  he  skilfully  accomplished, 
skirmishing  heavily  with  Wheeler's  cavalry,  first  at  Blackville  and  afterward 
at  Williston  and  Aiken.  General  Williams,  with  two  divisions  of  the 
Twentieth  Corps,  marched  to  the  South  Carolina  Railroad  at  Graham's  Sta- 
tion on  the  8th,  and  General  Slocum  reached  Blackville  on  the  10th.  The 
destruction  of  the  railroad  was  continued  by  the  left  wing  from  Blackville 
up  to  Windsor.  By  the  llth  of  February  all  the  army  was  on  the  railroad 
all  the  way  from  Midway  to  Johnson's  Station,  thereby  dividing  the  enemy's 
forces,  which  still  remained  at  Branchville  and  Charleston  on  the  one  hand, 
Aiken  and  Augusta  on  the  other. 

We  then  began  the  movement  on  Orangeburg.  The  Seventeenth  Corps 
crossed  the  south  fork  of  Edisto  River  at  Binnaker's  Bridge  and  moved 
straight  for  Orangeburg,  while  the  Fifteenth  Corps  crossed  at  Holman's 
Bridge  and  moved  to  Poplar  Springs  in  support.  The  left  wing  and  cavalry 
were  still  at  work  on  the  railroad,  with  orders  to  cross  the  South  Edisto  at 
New  and  Guignard's  Bridges,  move  to  the  Orangeburg  and  Edgefield  Road, 
and  there  await  the  result  of  the  attack  on  Orangeburg.  On  the  12th 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  found  the  enemy  intrenched  in  front  of  the  Orangeburg 
Bridge,  but  swept  him  away  by  a  dash,  and  followed  him,  forcing  him  across 
the  bridge,  which  was  partially  burned.  Behind  the  bridge  was  a  battery 
in  position,  covered  by  a  cotton  and  earth  rampart,  with  wings  as  far  as 
could  be  seen.  General  Blair  held  one  division  (Giles  A.  Smith's)  close  up 
to  the  Edisto,  and  moved  the  other  two  to  a  point  about  two  miles  below, 
where  he  crossed  Force's  division  by  a  pontoon  bridge,  holding  Mower's  in 
support.  As  soon  as  Force  emerged  from  the  swamp  the  enemy  gave  ground, 
and  Giles  Smith's  division  gained  the  bridge,  crossed  over,  and  occupied  the 
enemy's  parapet.  He  soon  repaired  the  bridge,  and  by  four  P.  M.  the  whole 
corps  was  in  Orangeburg,  and  had  begun  the  work  of  destruction  on  the 
railroad.  Blair  was  ordered  to  destroy  this  railroad  effectually  up  to  Lewis- 
ville  and  to  push  the  enemy  across  the  Congaree  and  force  him  to  burn  the 
bridges,  which  he  did  on  the  14th ;  and  without  wasting  time  or  labor  on 
Branchville  or  Charleston,  which  I  knew  the  enemy  could  no  longer  hold,  I 
turned  all  the  columns  straight  on  Columbia. 

The  Seventeenth  Corps  followed  the  State  Road,  and  the  Fifteenth  crossed 
the  North  Edisto  from  Poplar  Springs  at  Schilling's  Bridge,  above  the  mouth  of 
"  Gawcaw  Swamp  "  Creek,  and  took  a  country  road  which  came  into  the  State 
Road  at  Zeigler's.  On  the  15th,  the  Fifteenth  Corps  found  the  enemy  in  a 
strong  position  at  Little  Congaree  Bridge  (across  Congaree  Creek,)  with  a 
tete-de-pont  on  the  south  side,  and  a  well  constructed  fort  on  the  north  side, 
commanding  the  bridge  with  artillery.  The  ground  in  front  was  very  bad, 
level  and  clear,  with  a  fresh  deposit  of  mud  from  a  recent  overflow.  Gener- 
al Charles  R.  Wood,  who  commanded  the  leading  division  succeeded,  how- 
38 


596  APPENDIX. 

i  / 

ever,  in  turning  the  flank  of  the  tete-de-pont  by  sending  Stone's  brigade 
through  a  cypress  swamp  to  the  left ;  and  following  up  the  retreating  enemy 
promptly,  he  got  possession  of  the  bridge  and  the  fort  beyond.  The  bridge 
had  been  partially  damaged  by  fire,  and  had  to  be  repaired  for  the  passage 
of  artillery,  so  that  night  closed  in  before  the  head  of  the  column  could 
reach  the  bridge  across  Congaree  River  in  front  of  Columbia.  That  night 
the  enemy  shelled  our  camps  from  a  battery  on  the  east  side  of  the  Congaree 
above  Granby.  Early  next  morning  (February  16th)  the  head  of  the  column 
reached  the  bank  of  the  Congaree  opposite  Columbia,  but  too  late  to  save 
the  fine  bridge  which  spanned  the  river  at  that  point.  It  was  burned  by 
the  enemy.  While  waiting  for  the  pontoons  to  come  to  the  front,  we  could 
see  people  running  about  the  streets  of  Columbia,  and  occasionally  small 
bodies  of  cavalry,  but  no  masses.  A  single  gun  of  Capt.  De  Grass's  battery 
was  firing  at  their  cavalry  squads,  but  I  checked  his  firing,  limiting  him  to  a 
few  shots  at  the  unfinished  State-house  walls,  and  a  few  shells  at  the  railroad 
depot,  to  scatter  the  people  who  were  seen  carrying  away  sacks  of  corn  and 
meal  that  we  needed.  There  was  no  white  flag  or  manifestation  of  surren- 
der. I  directed  General  Howard  not  to  cross  directly  in  front  of  Columbia, 
but  to-cross  the  Saluda  at  the  factory,  three  miles  above,  and  afterward  Broad 
River,  so  as  to  approach  Columbia  from  the  north.  Within  an  hour  of  the 
arrival  of  General  Howard's  head  of  column  at  the  river  opposite  Columbia, 
the  head  of  column  of  the  left  wing  also  appeared,  and  I  directed 
General  Slocum  to  cross  the  Saluda  at  Zion  Church,  and  thence  to  take 
roads  direct  for  Winnsboro',  breaking  up  en  route  the  railroads  and  bridges 
about  Alston. 

General  Howard  effected  a  crossing  of  the  Saluda  near  the  factory  on 
the  16th,  skirmishing  with  cavalry,  and  the  same  night  made  a  flying  bridge 
across  Broad  River,  about  three  miles  above  Columbia,  by  which  he  crossed 
over  Stone's  brigade  of  Wood's  division,  Fifteenth  Corps.  Under  cover  of 
this  brigade  a  pontoon  bridge  was  laid  on  the  morning  of  the  17th.  I  was 
in  person  at  this  bridge,  and  at  11  A.  M.  learned  that  the  Mayor  of  Columbia 
had  come  out  in  a  carriage  and  made  formal  surrender  of  the  city  to  Colonel 
Stone,  Twenty-fifth  Iowa  Infantry,  commanding  third  brigade,  first  division, 
Fifteenth  Corps.  About  the  same  time,  a  small  party  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  had  crossed  the  Congaree  in  a  skiff,  and  entered  Columbia  fronr~a 
point  immediately  west.  In  anticipation  of  the  occupation  of  the  city,  I 
had  made  written  orders  to  General  Howard  touching  the  conduct  of  the 
troops.  These  were  to  destroy  absolutely  all  arsenals  and  public  property 
not  needed  for  our  own  use,  as  well  as  all  railroads,  depots,  and  machinery 
useful  in  war  to  an  enemy,  but  to  spare  all  dwellings,  colleges,  schools, 
asylums,  and  harmless  private  property.  I  was  the  first  to  cross  the  pon- 
toon bridge,  and  in  company  with  General  Howard  rode  into  the  city.  The 
day  was  clear,  but  a  perfect  tempest  of  wind  was  raging.  The  brigade  of 
Colonel  Stone  was  already  in  the  city,  and  was  properly  posted.  Citizens 
and  soldiers  were  on  the  streets,  and  general  good  order  prevailed.  General 
Wade  Hampton,  who  commanded  the  Confederate  rear-guard  of  cavalry,  had, 
in  anticipation  of.  our  capture  of  Columbia,  ordered  that  all  cotton,  public 
and  private,  should  be  moved  into  the  streets  and  fired,  to  prevent  our  mak- 
ing use  of  it.  Bales  were  piled  every  where,  the  rope  and  bagging  cut.  and 
tufts  of  cotton  were  blown  about  in  the  wind,  lodged  in  trees  and  against 
houses,  so  as  to  resemble  a  snow-storm.  Some  of  these  piles  of  cotton  were 
burning,  especially  one  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city  near  the  court-house, 
but  the  fire  was  partially  subdued  by  the  labor  of  our  soldiers.  During  the 
day,  the  Fifteenth  Corps  passed  through  Columbia  and  out  on  the  Camdeu 


CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CAROLINAS.  597 

Ivoad.  The  Seventeenth  did  not  enter  the  town  at  all;  and,  as  I  have  be* 
fore  stated,  the  left  wing  and  cavalry  did  not  come  within  two  miles  of  the 
town. 

Before  one  single  public  building  had  been  fired  by  order,  the  smoulder- 
ing fires  set  by  Hampton's  order  were  rekindled  by  the  wind,  and  commu- 
nicated to  the  buildings  around.  About  dark  they  began  to  spread,  and  got 
beyond  the  control  of  the  brigade  on  duty  within  the  city.  The  whole  of 
Wood's  division  was  brought  in,  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  check  the 
flumes,  which  by  midnight  had  become  unmanageable,  and  raged  until  about 
four  A.  M.,  when,  the  wind  subsiding,  they  were  got  under  control.  I  was  up 
nearly  all  night,  and  saw  Generals  Howard,  Logan,  Wood,  and  others  laboring 
to  save  houses,  and  to  protect  families  thus  suddenly  deprived  of  shelter  and  of 
bedding  and  wearing  apparel.  I  disclaim  on  the  part  of  my  army  any 
agency  in  this  fire,  but,  on  the  contrary,  claim  that  we  saved  what  of  Co 
lumbia  remains  unconsumed.  And,  without  hesitation,  I  charge  General 
Wade  Hampton  with  having  burned  his  own  city  of  Columbia,  not  with  a 
malicious  intent,  or  as  the  manifestation  of  a  silly  "  Roman  stoicism,"  but 
from  folly  and  want  of  sense,  in  filling  it  with  lint,  cotton,  and  tinder.  Our 
officers  and  men  on  duty  worked  well  to  extinguish  the  flames;  but  others 
not  on  duty,  including  the  officers  who  had  long  been  imprisoned  there,  res- 
cued by  us,  may  have  assisted  in  spreading  the  fire  after  it  had  once  begun, 
and  may  have  indulged  in  unconcealed  joy  to  see  the  ruin  of  the  capital  of 
South  Carolina.  During  the  18th  and  19th,  the  arsenal,  railroad  dep6ts, 
machine-shops,  foundries,  and  other  buildings  were  properly  destroyed 
by  detailed  working  parties,  and  the  railroad  track  torn  up.  and  destroyed 
to  Kingsville  and  the  Wateree  Bridge,  and  up  in  the  direction  of  Winns- 
boro'.  •:•»  N* 

At  the  same  time,  the  left  wing  and  cavalry  had  crossed  the  Saluda  and 
Broad  Rivers,  breaking  up  the  railroad  about  Alston,  and  as  high  up  as  the 
bridge  across  Broad  River  on  the  Spartanburg  Road,  the  main  body  moving 
straight  for  Winnsboro',  which  General  Slocum  reached  on  the  21st  of 
February.  He  caused  the  railroad  to  be  destroyed  up  to  Blackstake's  Depot, 
and  then  turned  to  Rocky  Mount,  on  the  Catawba  River.  The  Twentieth 
Corps  reached  Rocky  Mount  on  the  22d,  laid  a  pontoon  bridge,  and  crossed 
over  during  the  23d.  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  followed,  and  crossed  over  in  a 
heavy  rain  during  the  night  of  the  23d,  and  moved  up  to  Lancaster,  with 
orders  to  keep  up  the  delusion  of  a  general  movement  on  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  to  which  General  Beauregard  and  all  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy  had 
retreated  from  Columbia.  I  was  also  aware  that  Cheatham's  corps  of 
Hood's  old  army  was  aiming  to  make  a  junction  with  Beauregard  at  Char- 
lotte, having  been  cut  off  by  our  rapid  movement  on  Columbia  and  Winns- 
boro'. From  the  23d  to  the  26th  we  had  heavy  rains,  swelling  the  rivers 
and  making  the  roads  almost  impassable.  The  Twentieth  Corps  reached 
Hanging  Rock  on  the  26th,  and  waited  there  for  the  Fourteenth  Corps  to 
get  across  the  Catawba.  The  heavy  rains  had  sd  swollen  the  river  that  the 
pontoon  bridge  broke,  and  General  Davis  had  very  hard  work  to  restore  it 
and  get  his  command  across.  At  last  he  succeeded,  and  the  left  wing  was 
all  put  in  motion  for  Cheraw. 

In  the  meantime,  the  right  wing  had  broken  up  the  railroad*  to  Winns- 
boro', and  thence  turned  for  Pea's  Ferry,  where  it  was  crossed  over  the  Ca- 
tawba before  the  heavy  rains  set  in,  the  Seventeenth  Corps  moving  straight 
on  Cheraw  via  Young's  Bridge,  and  the  Fifteenth  Corps  by  Tiller's  and 
Kelly's  Bridges.  From  this  latter  corps  detachments  were  sent  into  Camden 
to  burn  the  bridge  over  the  Wateree,  with  the  railroad  depot,  stores,  etc. 


598  APPENDIX. 

A  small  force  of  mounted  men  under  Captain  Duncan  was  also  despatched  to 
make  a  dash  and  interrupt  the  railroad  from  Charleston  to  Florence,  but  it 
met  Butler's  division  of  cavalry,  and,  after  a  sharp  night-skirmish  on  Mount 
Elon,  was  compelled  to  return  unsuccessful.  Much  bad  road  was  encounter- 
ed at  Lynch's  Creek,  which  delayed  the  right  wing  about  the  same  length  of 
time  as  the  left  wing  had  been  at  the  Catawba. 

On  the  2d  of  March,  the  leading  division  of  the  Twentieth  Corps  entered 
Chesterfield,  skirmishing  with  Butler's  division  of  cavalry,  and  the  next  day 
about  noon  the  Seventeenth  Corps  entered  Cheraw,  the  enemy  retreating 
across  the  Pedee  and  burning  the  bridge  at  that  point.  At  Cheraw  we  found 
much  ammunition  and  many  guns,  which  had  been  brought  from  Charleston 
on  the  evacuation  of  that  city.  These  were  destroyed,  as  also  the  railroad 
trestles  and  bridges  down  as  far  as  Darlington.  An  expedition  of  mounted 
infantry  was  also  sent  down  to  Florence,  but  it  encountered  both  cavalry  and 
infantry,  and  returned,  having  only  broken  up  in  part  the  branch  road  from 
Florence  to  Cheraw. 

Without  unnecessary  delay  the  columns  were  again  put  in  motion,  direct- 
ed on  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  the  right  wing  crossing  the  Pedee  at 
Cheraw  and  the  left  wing  and  cavalry  at  Sneedsboro'.  General  Kilpatrick 
was  ordered  to  keep  well  on  the  left  flank,  and  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  mov- 
ing by  Love's  Bridge,  was  given  the  right  to  enter  and  occupy  Fayetteville 
first.  The  weather  continued  unfavorable  and  the  roads  bad,  but  the  Four- 
teenth and  Seventeenth  Corps  reached  Fayetteville  on  the  llth  of  March, 
skirmishing  with  Wade  Hampton's  cavalry,  that  covered  the  rear  of  Hardee's 
retreating  army,  which,  as  usual,  had  crossed  Cape  Fear  River,  burning  the 
bridge.  During  the  march  from  the  Pedee,  General  Kilpatrick  kept  his 
cavalry  well  on  the  left  and  exposed  flank.  During  the  night  of  the  9th  of 
March  his  three  brigades  were  divided  to  picket  the  roads.  General  Hamp- 
ton, detecting  this,  dashed  in  at  daylight  and  gained  possession  of  the  camp 
of  Colonel  Spencer's  brigade,  and  the  house  in  which  General  Kilpatriok  and 
Colonel  Spencer  had  their  quarters.  The  surprise  was  complete,  but  Gener- 
al Kilpatrick  quickly  succeeded  in  rallying  his  men  on  foot  in  a  swamp  near 
by,  and  by  a  prompt  attack,  well  followed  up,  regained  his  artillery,  horses, 
camp,  and  everything,  save  some  prisoners  whom  the  enemy  carried  oif, 
leaving  their  dead  on  the  ground. 

The  12th,  13th  and  14th  were  passed  at  Fayetteville,  destroying  absolute- 
ly the  United  States  Arsenal  and  the  vast  amount  of  machinery  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  old  Harper's  Ferry  United  States  Arsenal.  Every 
building  was  knocked  down  and  burned,  and  every  piece  of  machinery  ut- 
terly broken  up  and  ruined,  by  the  first  regiment  Michigan  engineers,  under 
the  immediate  supervision  of  Colonel  O.  M.  Poe,  chief  engineer.  Much  valu- 
able property  of  great  use  to  an  enemy  was  here  destroyed  or  cast  into  the 
river. 

Up  to  this  period,  I  had  perfectly  succeeded  in  interposing  my  superior 
army  between  the  scattered  parts  of  my  enemy.  But  1  was  then  aware  that 
the  fragments  that  had  left  Columbia  under  Beauregard  had  been  reinforced 
by  Cheatham's  corps  from  the  West  and  the  garrison  of  Augusta,  and  that 
ample  time  had  been  given  to  move  them  to  my  front  and  flank  about 
Raleigh.  Hardee  had  also  succeeded  in  getting  across  Cape  Fear  River 
ahead  of  me,  and  could,  therefore,  complete  the  junction  with  the  other 
armies  of  Johnston  and  Hoke  in  North  Carolina.  And  the  whole,  under  tho 
command  of  the  skilful  and  experienced  Joe  Johnston,  made  up  an  army  su- 
perior to  me  in  cavalry,  and  formidable  enough  in  artillery  and  infantry  to 
justify  me  in  extreme  caution  in  making  the  last  step  necessary  to  complete 


CAMPAIGN    OF   THE    CAROLINAS.  59 S 


the  march  I  had  undertaken.  Previous  to  reaching  Fayetteville,  I  had  dis- 
patched to  Wilmington  from  Laurel  Hill  Church  two  of  our  best  scouts  with 
intelligence  of  our  position  and  my  general  plans.  Both  of  these  messengers 
reached  Wilmington,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  March  the  army  tug 
"Davidson,"  Capt.  Ainsworth,  reached  Fayetteville  from  Wilmington,  bring- 
ing me  full  intelligence  of  events  from  the  outer  world.  On  the  same  day,  this 
tug  carried  back  to  General  Terry,  at  Wilmington,  and  General  Scbofield,  at 
Newbern,  my  dispatches  to  the  effect  that  on  Wednesday,  the  15th,  we  would 
move  for  Goldsboro',  feigning  on  Raleigh,  and  ordering  them  to  march 
straight  for  Goldsboro',  which  I  expected  to  reach  about  the  20th.  The  same 
day,  the  gun-boat  "  Eolus,"  Captain  Young,  United  States  Navy,  also  reached 
Fayetteville,  and  through  her  I  continued  to  have  communication  with  Wil- 
mington until  the  day  of  our  actual  departure.  While  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion was  going  on  at  Fayetteville,  two  pontoon  bridges  were  laid  across  Cape 
Fear  Eiver,  one  opposite  the  town,  the  other  three  miles  below. 

General  Kilpatrick  was  ordered  to  move  up  the  plank  road  to  and  beyond 
Averysboro'.  He  was  to  be  followed  by  four  divisions  of  the  left  wing,  with 
as  few  wagons  as  possible ;  the  rest  of  the  train,  under  escort  of  the  two  re- 
maining divisions  of  that  wing,  to  take  a  shorter  and  more  direct  road  to 
Goldsboro'.  In  like  manner,  General  Howard  was  ordered  to  send  his  trains, 
under  good  escort,  well  to  the  right,  toward  Faison's  Depot  and  Goldsboro', 
and  to  hold  four  divisions  light,  ready  to  go  to  the  aid  of  the  left  wing  if  attack- 
ed while  in  motion.  The  weather  continued  very  bad,  and  the  roads  had 
become  mere  quagmire.  Almost  every  foot  of  it  had  to  be  corduroyed  to 
admit  the  passage  of  wheels.  Still,  time  was  so  important  that  punctually, 
according  to  order,  the  columns  moved  out  from  Cape  Fear  River  on  Wed- 
nesday, the  15th  of  March.  I  accompanied  General  Slocurn,  who,  preceded 
by  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  moved  up  the  river  or  plank  road  that  day  to  Kyle's 
Landing,  Kilpatrick  skirmishing  heavily  with  the  enemy's  rear-guard  about 
three  miles  beyond,  near  Taylor's  Hole  Creek.  At  General  Kilpatrick's  request, 
General  Slocum  sent  forward  a  brigade  of  infantry  to  hold  a  line  of  barri- 
cades. Next  morning,  the  column  advanced  in  the  same  order,  and  developed 
the  enemy,  with  artillery,  infantry,  and  cavalry,  in  an  intrenched  position  in 
front  of  the  point  where  the  road  branches  off  toward  Goldsboro',  through 
Bentonville.  On  an  inspection  of  the  map,  it  was  manifest  that  Hardee,  in 
retreating  from  Fayetteville,  had  halted  in  the  narrow,  swampy  neck  be- 
tween Cape  Fear  and  South  rivers,  in  hopes  to  hold  me  to  save  time  for  the 
concentration  of  Johnston's  armies  at  some  point  to  his  rear,  namely,  Raleigh, 
Smithfield,  or  Goldsboro'.  Hardee's  force  was  estimated  at  20,000  men.  It 
was  necessary  to  dislodge  him,  that  we  might  have  the  use  of  the  Goldsboro' 
Road,  as  also  to  keep  up  the  feint  on  Raleigh  as  long  as  possible.  General 
Slocum  was,  therefore,  ordered  to  press  and  carry  the  position,  only  diffi- 
cult by  reason  of  the  nature  of  the  ground,  which  was  so  soft  that  horses 
would  sink  everywhere,  and  even  men  could  hardly  make  their  way  over 
the  common  pine  barren. 

The  Twentieth  Corps,  General  Williams,  had  the  lead,  and  Ward's  di- 
vision the  advance.  This  was  deployed,  and  the  skirmish  line  developed  the 
position  of  a  brigade  of  Charleston  heavy  artillery  armed  as  infantry  (Rhett's) 
posted  across  the  road  behind  a  light  parapet,  with  a  battery  of  guns  enfi- 
lading the  approach  across  a  cleared  field.  General  Williams  sent  a  brigade 
(Casey's)  by  a  circuit  to  his  left  that  turned  this  line,  and  by  a  quick  charge 
broke  the  brigade,  which  rapidly  retreated  back  to  a  second  line,  better  built 
and  more  strongly  held.  A  battery  of  artillery  (Winnager's)  well  posted, 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  Major  Reynolds,  chief  of  artillery  of  the 


600  APPENDIX. 

Twentieth  Corps,  did  good  execution  on  the  retreating  brigade,  and,  on  ad- 
vancing Ward's  division  over  this  ground,  General  Williams  captured  three 
guns  and  two  hundred  and  seventeen  prisoners,  of  which  sixty-eight  were 
wounded,  and  left  in  a  house  near  by  with  a  rebel  officer,  four  men  and  five 
days'  rations.  One  hundred  and  eight  rebel  dead  were  buried  by  us.  As 
Ward's  division  advanced,  he  developed  a  second  and  stronger  line,  when 
Jackson's  division  was  deployed  forward  on  the  right  of  Ward,  and  the  two 
divisions  of  Jeff.  O.  Davis'  (Fourteenth)  Corps  on  the  left  well  toward  the 
Cape  Fear  River.  At  the  same  time,  Kilpatrick,  who  was  acting  in  concert 
with  General  Williams,  was  ordered  to  draw  back  his  cavalry  and  mass  it  oil 
the  extreme  right,  and,  in  concert  with  Jackson's  right,  to  feel  forward  for 
the  Goldsboro'  Road.  He  got  a  brigade  on  the  road,  but  it  was  attacked  by 
McLaw's  rebel  division  furiously,  and,  though  it  fought  well  and  hard,  the 
brigade  drew  back  to  the  flank  of  the  infantry.  The  whole  line  advanced 
late  in  the  afternoon,  drove  the  enemy  well  within  his  intrenched  line,  and 
pressed  him  so  hard  that  next  morning  he  was  gone,  having  retreated  in  a 
miserable  stormy  night  over  the  worst  of  roads.  Ward's  division  of  infantry 
followed  to  and  through  Averysboro',  developing  the  fact  that  Hardee  had 
retreated,  not  on  Raleigh,  but  on  Smithfield.  I  had  the  night  before  direct- 
fed  Kilpatrick  to  cross  South  River  at  a  mill-dam  to  our  right  rear,  and 
move  up  on  the  east  side  toward  Elevation.  General  Slocum  reports  his  ag- 
gregate loss  in  this  affair,  known  as  that  of  Averysboro',  at  twelve  officers 
'  and  sixty-five  men  killed,  and  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  wounded. 
We  lost  no  prisoners.  The  enemy's  loss  can  be  inferred  from  his  dead  (one 
hundred  and  eight)  left  for  us  to  bury.  Leaving  Ward's  division  to  keep  up 
a  show  of  pursuit,  Slocum's  column  was  turned  to  the  right,  built  a  bridge 
across  the  swollen  South  River,  and  took  the  Goldsboro'  Road,  Kilpatrick 
crossing  to  the  north  in  the  direction  of  Elevation,  with  orders  to  move 
eastward,  watching  that  flank.  In  the  meantime,  the  wagon  trains  and 
guards,  as  also  Howard's  column,  were  wallowing  along  the  miry  roads 
towards  Bentonville  and  Goldsboro'.  The  enemy's  infantry,  as  before  stated, 
had  retreated  on  Smithfield,  and  his  cavalry  retreated  across  our  front  in  the 
same  direction,  burning  the  bridges  across  Mill  Creek.  I  continued  with 
the  head  of  Slocum's  column,  and  camped  the  night  of  the  18th  with 
him  on  the  Goldsboro'  Road,  twenty-seven  miles  from  Goldsboro',  about 
five  miles  from  Bentonville,  and  where  the  road  from  Clinton  to  Smith- 
field  crosses  the  Goldsboro'  Road.  Howard  was  at  Lee's  Store,  only  two 
miles  south,  and  both  columns  had  pickets  three  miles  forward,  to  where 
the  two  roads  came  together  and  became  common  to  Goldsboro'. 

All  the  signs  induced  me  to  believe  that  the  enemy  would  make  no 
further  opposition  to  our  progress,  and  would  not  attempt  to  strike  us  in 
flank  while  in  motion.  I  therefore  directed  Howard  to  move  his  right 
wing  by  the  new  Goldsboro'  Road,  which  goes  by  way  of  Falling  Creek 
Church.  I  also  left  Slocum  and  joined  Howard's  column,  with  a  view  to 
open  communication  with  General  Schofield,  coming  up  from  Newbern, 
and  Terry  from  Wilmington.  I  found  General  Howard's  column  well  strung 
out,  owing  to  the  very  bad  roads,  and  did  not  overtake  him  in  person  until 
he  had  reached  Falling  Creek  Church,  with  one  regiment  forward  to  the 
cross-roads  near  Cox's  Bridge  across  the  Neuse.  I  had  gone  from  General 
Slocum  about  six  miles,  when  I  heard  artillery  in  his  direction,  but  was  socn 
made  easy  by  one  of  his  staff  officers  overtaking  me,  explaining  that  his 
leading  division  (Carlin's)  had  encountered  a  division  of  rebel  cavalry  (Dib- 
brell's),  which  he  was  driving  easily.  Bnt  soon  other  staff  officers  came  up, 
reporting  that  he  had  developed  near  Bentonville  the  whole  of  the  rebel 


CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CAROLINAS.  601 


army,  under  General  Johnston  himself.  I  sent  him  orders  to  call  up  the  two 
divisions  guarding  his  wagon  trains,  and  Hazen's  division  of  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  still  back  near  Lee's  Store,  to  fight  defensively  until  I  could  draw  up 
Blair's  corps,  then  near  Mount  Olive  Station,  and,  with  the  three  remaining 
divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  come  up  on  Johnston's  left  rear  from  the 
direction  of  Cox's  Bridge.  In  the  meantime,  while  on  the  road,  I  received 
couriers  from  both  Generals  Schofield  and  Terry.  The  former  reported  him- 
self in  pos-ession  of  Kinston,  delayed  somewhat  by  want  of  provisions,  but 
able  to  march  so  as  to  make  Goldsboro'  on  the  21st  ;  Terry  was  at  or  near 
Faison's  Depot.  Orders  were  at  once  despatched  to  Schofield  to  push  for 
Goldsboro',  and  to  make  dispositions  to  cross  Little  River  in  the  direction  of 
Smithfield  as  far  as  Millard  ;  to  General  Terry  to  move  to  Cox's  Bridge,  lay 
a  pontoon  bridge,  and  establish  a  crossing  ;  and  to  General  Blair  to  make  a 
night  march  to  Falling  Creek  Church  ;  and  at  daylight,  the  right  wing, 
General  Howard,  less  the  necessary  wagon  guards,  was  put  in  rapid  motion 
on  Bentonville.  By  subsequent  reports,  I  learned  that  General  Slocum's 
head  of  column  had  advanced  from  its  camp  of  March  18th,  and  first  en- 
countered Dibbrell's  cavalry,  but  soon  found  his  progress  impeded  by  in- 
fantry and  artillery.  /The  enemy  attacked  his  head  of  column,  gaining  a 
temporary  advantage,  and  took  three  guns  and  caissons  of  General  Carlin's 
division,  driving  the  two  leading  brigades  back  on  the  main  body.  As 
soon  as  General  Slocum  realized  that  he  had  in  his  front  the  whole  Con- 
federate army,  he  promptly  deployed  the  two  divisions  of  the  Fourteenth 
Corps,  General  Davis,  and  rapidly  brought  up  on  their  left  the  two  di- 
visions of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  General  Williams.  These  he  arranged  on 
the  defensive,  and  hastily  prepared  a  line  of  barricades.  General  Kilpat- 
rick  also  came  up  at  the  sound  of  artillery,  and  massed  on  the  left.  In  this 
position,  the  left  wing  received  six  distinct  assaults  by  the  combined  forces 
of  Hoke,  Hardee,  and  Cheatham,  under  the  immediate  command  of  General 
Johnston  himself,  without  giving  an  inch  of  ground,  and  doing  good  execu- 
tion on  the  enemy's  ranks,  especially  with  our  artillery,  the  enemy  having 
little  or  none. 

Johnston  had  moved  by  night  from  Smithfield  with  great  rapidity  and^, 
without  unnecessary  wheels,  intending  to  overwhelm  my  left  flank  before  it' 
could  be  relieved  by  its  co-operating  columns.  But  he  "reckoned  without 
his  host."  I  had  expected  just  such  a  movement  all  the  way  from  Fayette- 
ville,  and  was  prepared  for  it.  During  the  night  of  the  19th  General  Slo- 
cum got  up  his  wagon  train  with  its  guard  of  two  divisions,  and  Hazen's  di- 
vision of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  which  reinforcement  enabled  him  to  make  his 
position  impregnable.  The  right  wing  found  rebel  cavalry  watching  its  ap- 
proach, but  unable  to  offer  any  serious  opposition,  until  our  head  of  column 
encountered  a  considerable  body  behind  a  barricade,  at  the  forks  of  the  road 
near  Bentonville,  about  three  miles  east  of  the  battle-field  of  the  day  before. 
This  body  of  cavalry  was,  however,  quickly  dislodged,  and  the  intersection 
of  the  roads  secured.  On  moving  forward  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  General 
Logan  found  that  the  enemy  had  thrown  back  his  left  flank,  and  had  con- 
structed a  line  of  parapet  connecting  with  that  toward  General  Slocum,  in 
t^e  form  of  a  bastion,  its  salient  on  the  main  Goldsboro'  Eoad,  interposing 
between  General  Slocum  on  the  west  and  General  Howard  on  the  east, 
while  the  flanks  rested  on  Mill  Creek,  covering  the  road  back  to  Smithfield. 
General  Howard  was  instructed  to  proceed  with  due  caution  until  he  had 
made  strong  connection  on  his  left  with  General  Slocum.  This  he  soon  ac-' 
complished,  and  by  four  P.  M.  of  the  20th  a  complete  and  strong  line  of 
battle  confronted  the  enemy  in  his  intrenched  position,  and  General  John- 


602  APPENDIX. 


ston,  instead  of  catching  us  in  detail,  was  on  the  defensive,  with  Mill  Creek 
and  a  single  bridge  to  his  rear.  Nevertheless,  we  had  no  object  to  accom- 
plish by  a  battle,  unless  at  an  advantage,  and,  therefore,  my  general  instruc- 
tions were  to  press  steadily  with  skirmishers  alone,  to  use  artillery  pretty 
freely  on  the  wooded  space  held  by  the  enemy,  and  to  feel  pretty  strongly 
the  flanks  of  his  position,  which  were,  as  usual,  covered  by  the  endless 
swamps  of  this  region  of  country.  I  also  ordered  all  empty  wagons  to  be 
sent  at  once  to  Kinston  for  supplies,  and  all  other  impediments  to  be  grouped 
near  th«  Neuse,  south  of  Goldsboro',  holding  the  real  army  in  close  contact 
with  the  enemy,  ready  to  fight  him  if  he  ventured  outside  his  parapets  and 
swampy  obstructions. 

Thus  matters  stood  about  Bentonville  on  the  21st  of  March.  On  the 
same  day  General  Schofield  entered  Goldsboro'  with  little  or  no  opposition, 
and  General  Terry  had  got  possession  of  the  Neuse  River  at  Cox's  Bridge, 
ten  miles  above,  with  pontoon  bridge  laid  and  a  brigade  across,  so  that  the 
three  armies  were  in  actual  connection,  and  the  great  object  of  the  campaign 
was  accomplished. 

On  the  21st  a  steady  rain  prevailed,  during  which  General  Mower's  di- 
vision of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  on  the  extreme  right,  had  worked  well  to 
the  right  around  the  enemy's  flank,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  bridge  across 
Mill  Creek,  the  only  line  of  retreat  open  to  the  enemy.  Of  course,  there 
was  extreme  danger  that  the  enemy  would  turn  on  him  all  his  reserves,  and, 
it  might  be,  let  go  his  parapets  to  overwhelm  Mower.  Accordingly,  I 
ordered  at  once  a  general  attack  by  our  skirmish  line  from  left  to  right. 
Quite  a  noisy  battle  ensued,  during  which  General  Mower  was  enabled  to 
regain  his  connection  with  his  own  corps  by  moving  to  his  left  rear.  Still, 
he  had  developed  a  weakness  in  the  enemy's  position  of  which  advantage 
might  have  been  taken  ;  but  that  night  the  enemy  retreated  on  Smithfield, 
leaving  his  pickets  to  fall  into  our  hands,  with  many  dead  unburied,  and 
wounded  in  his  field  hospitals.  At  daybreak  of  the  22d,  pursuit  was  made 
two  miles  beyond  Mill  Creek,  but  checked  by  my  order.  General  Johnston 
had  utterly  failed  in  his  attempt,  and  we  remained  in  full  possession  of  the 
field  of  battle. 

General  Slocum  reports  the  losses  of  the  left  wing  about  Bentonville 
at  nine  officers  and  one  hundred  and  forty-five  killed,  fifty-one  officers  and 
eight  hundred  and  sixteen  men  wounded,  and  three  officers  and  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three  men  missing,  taken  prisoners  by  the  enemy ;  total,  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-seven.  He  buried  on  the  field  one  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  rebel  dead,  and  took  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  prison- 
ers. 

General  Howard  reports  the  losses  of  the  right  wing  at  two  officers  and 
thirty-five  men  killed,  twelve  officers  and  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
men  wounded,  and  one  officer  and  sixty  men  missing;  total,  three  hundred 
and  ninety-nine.  He  also  buried  one  hundred  rebel  dead  and  took  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  prisoners. 

The  cavalry  of  Kilpatrick  was  held  in  reserve,  and  lost  but  few,  if  any, 
of  which  I  have  no  report  as  yet.  Our  aggregate  loss  at  Bentonville  was 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-six. 

I  am  well  satisfied  that  the  enemy  lost  heavily,  especially  during  his  as- 
sault on  the  left  wing  during  the  afternoon  of  the  19th  ;  but  as  I  have  no 
data  save  his  dead  and  wounded  left  in  our  hands,  I  prefer  to  make  no  com- 
parisons. 

Thus,  as  I  have  endeavored  to  explain,  we  had  completed  our  march  on 
the  21st,  and  had  full  possession  of  Goldsboro',  the  real  "  objective,"  with 


CAMPAIGN    OF    THE    CAROLINAS.  603 

its  t»ro  railroads  back  to  the  sea-ports  of  "Wilmington  and  Beaufort,  North 
Oaiolina.  These  were  being  rapidly  repaired  by  strong  working  parties,  di- 
rected by  Colonel  W.  W.  W right,  of  the  Railroad  Department.  A  large 
number  of  supplies  had  already  been  brought  forward  to  Kinstonj  to  which 
place  our  wagons  had  been  sent  to  receive  them.  I,  therefore,  directed 
General  Howard  and  the  cavalry  to  remain  at  Bentonville  during  the  22d  to 
bury  the  dead  and  remove  the  wounded,  and  on  the  following  day,  all  the 
armies  to  the  camps  assigned  them  about  Goldsboro',  there  to  rest  and  re- 
ceive the  clothing  and  supplies  of  which  they  stood  in  need.  In  person  I 
went,  on  the  23d,  to  Cox's  Bridge,  to  meet  General  Terry,  whom  I  met  for 
the  first  time,  and  on  the  following  day  rode  into  Goldsboro',  where  I 
found  General  Schofield  and  his  army.  The  left  wing  came  in  during  the 
same  day  and  next  morning,  and  the  right  wing  followed  on  the  24th,  on 
which  day  the  cavalry  moved  to  Mount  Olive  Station  and  General  Torry 
back  to  Faison's.  On  the  25th  the  Newbern  Railroad  was  finished,  and  the 
first  train  of  cars  came  in,  thus  giving  us  the  means  of  bringing  from  the 
depot  at  Morehead  City  full  supplies  to  the  army. 

It  was  all-important  that  I  should  have  an  interview  with  the  General-in- 
Chief;  and,  presuming  that  he  could  not  at  this  time  leave  City  Point,  I  left 
General  Schofield  in  chief  command,  and  proceeded  with  all  expedition  by 
rail  to  Morehead  City,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  City  Point,  reaching  Gener- 
al Grant's  headquarters  on  the  evening  of  the  27th  of  March.  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  meet  General  Grant,  the  President,  Generals  Meade,  Ord, 
and  others  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  soon  learned  the  general  state 
of  the  military  world,  from  which  I  had  been  in  a  great  measure  cut  off 
since  January.  Having  completed  all  necessary  business,  I  re-embarked  on 
the  navy  steamer  Bat,  Captain  Barnes,  which  Admiral  Porter  placed  at  my 
command,  and  returned  via  Hatteras  Inlet  and  Newbern,  reaching  my  own 
headquarters  in  Goldsboro'  during  the  night  of  the  30th.  During  my  ab- 
sence, full  supplies  of  clothing  and  food  had  been  brought  to  camp,  and  all 
things  were  working  well. 

I  have  thus  rapidly  sketched  the  progress  of  our  columns  from  Savannah 
to  Goldsboro',  but  for  more  minute  details  must  refer  to  the  reports  of  sub- 
ordinate commanders  and  of  staff  officers,  which  are  not  yet  ready,  but  will 
in  due  season  be  forwarded  and  filed  with  this  report.  1  can  not  even  with 
any  degree  of  precision  recapitulate  the  vast  amount  of  injury  done  the 
enemy,  or  the  quantity  of  guns  and  materials  of  war  captured  and  destroyed. 
In  general  terms,  we  have  traversed  the  country  from  Savannah  to  Golds- 
boro', with  an  average  breadth  of  forty  miles,  consuming  all  the  forage, 
cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  poultry,  cured  meats,  corn  meal,  etc.  The  public  enemy, 
instead  of  drawing  supplies  from  that  region  to  feed  his  armies,  will  be  com- 
pelled to  send  provisions  from  other  quarters  to  feed  the  inhabitants.  A 
map  herewith,  prepared  by  my  chief  engineer,  Colonel  Poe,  with  the  routes 
of  the  four  corps  and  cavalry,  will  show  at  a  glance  the  country  traversed. 
Of  course,  the  abandonment  to  us  by  the  enemy  of  the  whole  sea-coast,  from 
Savannah  to  Newbern,  North  Carolina,  with  its  forts,  dock-yards,  gun-boats, 
etc.,  was  a  necessary  incident  to  our  occupation  and  destruction  of  the  inland 
routes  of  travel  and  supply;  but  the  real  object  of  this  march  was  to  place 
this  army  in  a  position  easy  of  supply,  whence  it  oould  take  an  appropriate 
part  in  the  spring  and  summer  campaign  of  1865.  This  was  completely  ac- 
complished on  the  21st  of  March,  by  the  junction  of  the  three  armies  and 
occupation  of  Goldsboro'. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  express  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  my  entire 
satisfaction  with  the  tone  and  temper  of  the  whole  army.  Nothing  seems 


604  APPENDIX. 


to  dampen  their  energy,  zeal  or  cheerfulness.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a 
march  involving  more  labor  and  exposure,  yet  I  can  not  recall  an  instance 
of  bad  temper  by  the  way,  or  hearing  an  expression  of  doubt  as  to  our  per-' 
feet  success  in  the  end.  I  believe  that  this  cheerfulness  and  harmony  of  ac- 
tion reflects  upon  all  concerned  quite  as  much  real  honor  and  fame  as 
"battles  gained"  or  "cities  won,"  and  I,  therefore,  commend  all — generis, 
staff,  officers,  and  men,  for  these  high  qualities,  in  addition  to  the  more 
so]dierly  ones  of  obedience  to  orders,  and  the  alacrity  they  have  always 
manifested  when  danger  summoned  them  "  to  the  front."  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  your  obedient  servant. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN",  Maior-General  Commanding. 
Major-General  H.  W.  HALLECK,  Chief  of  Staff,  Washington  City,  D.  0. 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  TESTIMONY  BEFORE  THE  COM- 
MITTEE  ON  THE  WAR. 

I  met  General  Johnston  in  person  at  a  house  five  miles  from  Durham 
Station,  under  a  flag  of  truce.  After  a  few  preliminary  remarks  he  said  to 
me,  since  Lee  had  surrendered  his  army  at  Appornattox  Court-house,  of 
which  he  had  just  been  advised,  he  looked  upon  farther  opposition  by  him  as 
the  greatest  possible  of  crimes ;  that  he  wanted  to  know  whether  I  could 
make  him  any  general  concessions ;  anything  by  whicii  he  could  maintain 
his  hold  and  control  of  his  army,  and  prevent  its  scattering ;  anything  to 
satisfy  the  great  yearning  of  their  people;  if  so,  he  thought  he  could  arrange 
terms  satisfactory  to  both  parties.  He  wanted  to  embrace  the  condition 
and  fate  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
to  make  one  job  of  it,  as  he  termed  it. 

I  asked  him  what  his  powers  were — whether  he  could  command  and  con- 
trol the  fate  of  all  the  armies  to  the  Rio  Grande.  He  answered  that  he 
thought  he  could  obtain  the  power,  but  he  did  not  possess  it  at  that  moment ; 
he  did  not  know  where  Mr.  Davis  was,  but  he  thought  if  I  could  give  him 
time  he  could  find  Mr.  Breckenridge,  whose  orders  would  be  obeyed  every- 
where, and  he  could  pledge  to  me  his  personal  faith  that  whatever  he  under- 
took to  do  would  be  done. 

I  had  had  frequent  correspondence  with  the  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  General  Halleck,  and  with  General 
Grant,  and  the  general  impression  left  upon  my  mind,  that  if  a  settlement 
could  be  made,  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
laws  of  Congress,  and  the  Proclamation  of  the  President,  they  would  not 
only  be  willing,  but  pleased  to  terminate  the  war  by  one  single  stroke  of 
the  pen. 

I  needed  time  to  finish  the  railroad  from  the  Neuse  Bridge  up  to  Raleigh, 
and  thought  I  could  put  in  four  or  five  days  of  good  time  in  making  repairs 
to  my  road,  even  if  1  had  to  send  propositions  to  Washington  ;  I,  therefore, 
consented  to  delay  twenty-four  hours,  to  enable  General  Johnston  to  procure 
what  would  satisfy  me  as  to  his  authority  and  ability  as  a  military  man,  to 
do  what  he  undertook  to  do ;  I,  therefore,  consented  to  meet  him  the  next 
day,  the  17th,  at  twelve  noon,  at  the  same  place. 

We  did  meet  again;  after  a  general  interchange  of  courtesies,  he  re- 


THE    CONFERENCE    WITH    JOHNSTON.  605 


marked  that  he  was  then  prepared  to  satisfy  me  that  he  could  fulfil  the 
terms  of  our  conversation  of  the  day  before.  He  then  asked  me  what  I 
was  willing  to  do ;  I  told  him,  in  the  first  place,  I  could  not  deal  with  any 
body  except  men  recognized  by  us  as  u  belligerents,"  because  no  man 
could  go  beyond  that  fact.  The  Attorney  General  has  since  so  decided, 
and  any  man  of  common  sense  so  understood  it  before;  there  was  no  dif- 
ference upon  that  point  as  to  the  men  and  officers  accompanying  the  Con- 
federate armies.  1  told  him  that  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  a 
published  proclamation,  had  enabled  every  man  in  the  Southern  Confederate 
Army,  of  the  rank  of  colonel  and  under,  to  procure  and  obtain  amnesty,  by 
simply  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  agreeing  to 
go  to  his  home  and  live  in  peace.  The  terms  of  General  Grant  to  General 
Lee  extended  the  same  principles  to  the  officers,  of  the  rank  of  Brigadier- 
General  and  upward,  including  the  highest  officer  in  the  Confederate  Army, 
viz.r  General  Lee,  the  commander-in-chief.  I  was,  therefore,  willing  to 
proceed  with  him  upon  the  same  principles. 

Then  a  conversation  arose  as  to  what  form  of  government  they  were  to 
have  in  the  South?  Were  the  States  there  to  be  dissevered,  and  were 
the  people  to  be  denied  representation  in  Congress  ?  Were  the  people  there 
to  be,  in  the  common  language  of  the  people  of  the  South,  slaves  to  the 
people  of  the  North  ?  Of  course,  I  said  "  No  ;  we  desire  that  you  shall  re- 
gain your  position  as  citizens  of  the  tJnited  States,  free  and  equal  to  us  in 
all  respects,  and  with  representation  upon  the  condition  of  submission  to  the 
lawful  authority  of  the  United  States  as  defined  by  the  Constitution,  the 
United  States  courts,  and  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  supported  by 
those  courts."  He  then  remarked  to  me  that  General  Breckenridge,  a  major- 
general  in  the  Confederate  Army,  was  near  by,  and,  if  I  had  no  objection,  he 
would  like  to  have  him  present.  I  called  his  attention  to  the  fact,  that  I  had 
on  the  day  before  explained  to  him  that  any  negotiation  between  us  must 
be  confined  to  belligerents.  He  replied  that  he  understood  that  perfectly. 
u  But,"  said  he,  "Breckenridge,  whom  you  do  not  know,  save  by  public 
rumor,  as  Secretary  of  War,  is,  in  fact,  a  major-general ;  I  give  you  my  word 
for  that.  Have  you  any  objection  to  his  being  present  as  a  major-general  ?" 
I  replied,  "  I  have  no  objection  to  any  military  officer  you  desire  being  pres- 
ent as  a  part  of  your  personal  staff."  I  myself  had  my  own  officers  near 
me  at  call. 

Breckenridge came,  a  stranger  to  me,  whom  Iliad  never  spoken  to  in  my 
life,  and  he  joined  in  the  conversation;  while  that  conversation  was  going 
on  a  courier  arrived  and  handed  to  General  Johnston  a  package  of  papers  ;  he 
and  Breckenridge  sat  down  and  looked  over  them  for  some  time  and  put 
them  away  in  their  pockets ;  what  they  were  I  know  not,  but  one  of  them 
was  a  slip  of  paper,  written,  as  General  Johnston  told  me,  by  Mr.  Eeagan, 
Postmaster  General  of  the  Southern  Confederacy;  they  seemed  to  talk 
about  it  sotto  voce,  and  finally  handed  it  to  me  ;  I  glanced  over  it ;  it  was  pre- 
ceded by  a  preamble,  .and  closed  with  a  few  general  terms ;  I  rejected  it  at 
once. 

We  then  discussed  matters ;  talked  about  slavery,  talked  about  every- 
thing. There  was  a  universal  assent  that  slavery  was  as  dead  as  a  thing 
could  be ;  that  it  was  one  of  the  issues  of  the  war  long  since  determined  ; 
and  even  General  Johnston  laughed  at  the  folly  of  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment in  raising  negro  soldiers,  whereby  they  gave  us  all  the  points  of  the  case. 
I  told  them  that  slavery  had  been  treated  by  us  as  a  dead  institution,  first  by 
one  class  of  men  from  the  initiation  of  the  war,  and  then  from  the  date  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  and  finally  by  the  assent 


606  APPENDIX. 


of  all  parties.  As  to  reconstruction,  I  told  them  I  did  not  know  what  the 
views  of  the  administration  were.  Mr.  Lincoln,  up  to  that  time,  in  letters 
and  by  telegrams  to  me,  encouraged  me  by  all  the  words  that  could  be  used 
in  general  terms  to  believe,  not  only  in  his  willingness,  but  in  his  desire  that 
I  should  make  terms  with  civil  authorities,  governors,  and  legislatures,  even 
as  far  back  as  1863.  It  then  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  write  off  some  general 
propositions,  meaning  little  or  meaning  much,  according  to  the  construction 
of  parties — what  I  would  term  "  glittering  generalities  " — and  send  them  to 
Washington,  which  I  could  do  in  four  days.  That  would  enable  the  new 
President  to  give  me  a  clew  to  his  policy  in  the  important  juncture  which 
was  then  upon  us,  for  the  war  was  over ;  the  highest  military  authorities  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy  so  confessed  to  me  openly,  unconcealedly,  and  re- 
peatedly. I,  therefore,  drew  up  the  memorandum  (which  has  been  published 
to  the  world)  for  the  purpose  of  referring  it  to  the  proper  executive  authori- 
ty of  the  United  States,  and  enabling  him  to  define  to  me  what  I  might  pro- 
mise, simply  to  cover  the  pride  of  the  Southern  men,  who  thereby  became 
subordinate  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  civil  and  military.  I  made  no 
concessions  to  GeneralJohnstonVarmy  or  the  troops  under  his  direction  and 
immediate  control ;  and  if  any  concessions  were  made  in  these  general  terms, 
they  were  made  because  I  then  believed,  and  now  believe,  they  would  have 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  the  absolute  control  of  every 
Confederate  officer  and  soldier,  all  their  muster-rolls,  and  all  their  arms.  It 
would  save  us  all  the  incidental  expense  resulting  from  the  military  occupa- 
tion of  that  country  by  provost-marshals,  provost-guards,  military  gover- 
nors, and  all  the  machinery  by  which  alone  military  power  can  reach  the 
people  of  a  civilized  country.  It  would  have  surrendered  to  us  the  armies 
of  Dick  Taylor  and  Kirby  Smith,  both  of  them  capable  of  doing  infinite 
mischief  to  us  by  exhausting  the  resources  of  the  whole  country  upon  which 
we  were  to  depend  for  the  future  extinguishment  of  our  debt,  forced  upon 
us  by  their  wrongful  and  rebellious  conduct.  I  never  designed  to  shelter  a 
human  being  from  any  liability  incurred  in  consequence  of  past  acts  to  the 
civil  tribunals  of  our  country,  and  I  do  not  believe  a  fair  and  manly  inter- 
pretation of  my  terms  can  so  construe  them,  for  the  words  "  United  States 
courts,"  "  United  States  authorities,"  "limitations  of  executive  power,"  oc- 
eur  in  every  paragraph.  And  if  they  seemingly  yield  terms  better  than  the 
public  would  desire  to  be  given  to  the  Southern  people,  if  studied  closely 
and  well  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  an  absolute  submission  on  their  part 
to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  either  through  its  executive,  legisla- 
tive, or  judicial  authorities.  Every  step  in  the  programme  of  these  negoti- 
ations was  reported  punctually,  clearly,  and  fully,  by  the  most  rapid  means 
of  communication  that  I  had.  And  yet  I  neglected  not  one  single  precau- 
tion necessary  to  reap  the  full  benefits  of  my  position  in  case  the  government 
amended,  altered,  or  absolutely  annulled  those  terms.  As  those  matters 
were  necessarily  mingled  with  the  military  history  of  the  period,  I  would 
like  at  this  point  to  submit  to  the  committee  my  official  report,  which  has 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  proper  officer,  Brigadier-General  Rawlings,  Chief 
of  Staff,  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  since  about  the  12th  instant. 
It  was  made  by  me  at  Manchester,  Va.,  after  I  had  returned  from  Savannah, 
whither  I  went  to  open  up  the  Savannah  Eiver  and  reap  the  fruits  of  my 
negotiations  with  General  Johnston,  and  to  give  General  "Wilson's  force  in 
the  interior  a  safe  and  sure  base  from  which  he  could  draw  the  necessary 
supply  of  clothing  and  food  for  his  command.  It  was  only  after  1  had  ful- 
filled all  this  that  I  learned,  for  the  first  time,  through  the  public  press,  that 
my  conduct  had  been  animadverted  upon,  not  only  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  but 


THE  CONFERENCE  WITH  JOHNSTON.         607 


by  General  Halleck,  and  the  press  of  the  country  at  large.  I  did  feel  hurt  an<3 
annoyed  that  Mr.  Stanton  coupled  with  the  terms  of  my  memorandum,  confid- 
ed to  him,  a  copy  of  a  telegram  to  General  Grant  which  he  had  never  sent 
to  me.  He  knew,  on  the  contrary,  that  when  he  was  at  Savannah,  that 
I  had  negotiations  with  civil  parties  there,  for  he  was  present  in  my 
room  when  these  parties  were  conferring  with  me,  and  I  wrote  him  a 
letter  setting  forth  many  points  of  it,  in  which  I  said  I  aimed  to  make  a 
split  in  Jeff.  Davis' s  dominions,  by  segregating  Georgia  from  their  course. 
Those  were  civil  negotiations,  and,  far  from  being  discouraged  from  mak- 
ing them,  I  was  encouraged  by  Secretary  Stanton  himself  to  make  them. 
By  coupling  the  note  to  General  Grant  with  my  memorandum,  he 

five  the  world  fairly  and  clearly  to  infer  that  I  was  in  possession  of  it. 
ow,  I  was  not  in  possession  of  it,  and  I  have  reason  to  know  that  Mr.  Stanton 
knew  I  was  not  in  possession  of  it.  Next  met  me  General  Halleck's  telegram, 
indorsed  by  Mr.  Stanton,  in  which  they  publicly  avowed  an  act  of  perfidy — 
namely,  the  violation  of  my  terms,  which  I  had  a  right  to  make,  and  which, 
by  the  laws  of  war  and  by  the  laws  of  Congress,  is  punishable  by  death  and 
no  other  punishment.  Next,  they  ordered  an  army  to  pursue  my  enemy, 
who  was  known  to  be  surrendering  to  me,  in  the  presence  of  General  Grant 
himself,  their  superior  officer ;  and,  finally,  they  sent  orders  to  General  Wilson 
and  to  General  Thomas — my  subordinates,  acting  under  me  on  a  plan  of  the 
most  magnificent  scale,  admirably  executed — to  defeat  my  orders,  and  to 
thwart  the  interests  of  the  government  of  the  United  States.  I  did  feel  indig- 
nant. I  do  feel  indignant.  As  to  my  honor,  I  can  protect  it.  In  my  letter  of  the 
15th  of  April  I  used  this  language  :  u  I  have  invited  Governor  Vance  to  return 
to  Raleigh,  with  the  civil  officers  of  his  State."  I  did  so  because  President 
Lincoln  had  himself  encouraged  me  to  a  similar  course  with  the  Governor  of 
Georgia  when  I  was  in  Atlanta.  And  here  was  the  opportunity  which  the 
Secretary  of  War  should  have  taken  to  put  me  on  my  guard  against  making 
terms  with  civil  authorities,  if  such  were  the  settled  policy  of  our  govern- 
ment. Had  President  Lincoln  lived,  I  know  he  would  have  sustained  me. 

The  following  is  my  report,  which  I  desire  to  have  incorporated  into  and 
made  part  of  my  testimony. 


In  another  report,  which  we  have  not  space  to  give  in  full,  he  thus  gives 
his  opinion  of  the  conduct  of  Halleck  and  Stanton : 

It  now  becomes  my  duty  to  paint  in  justly  severe  character  the  still 
more  offensive  and  dangerous  matter  of  General  Halleck's  dispatch  of  April 
26th  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  embodied  in  his  to  General  Dix  of  April  27th. 

General  Halleck  had  been  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  Army  at  Washington,  in 
which  capacity  he  must  have  received  my  official  letter  of  April  18th, 
wherein  I  wrote  clearly  that  if  Johnston's  army  about  Greensboro1  were 
"  pushed  "  it  would  "  disperse,"  an  event  I  wished  to  prevent.  About  that 
time  he  seems  to  have  been  sent  from  Washington  to  Richmond  to  command 
the  new  Military  Division  of  the  James,  in  assuming  charge  of  which,  on 
the  22d,  he  defines  the  limits  of  his  authority  to  be  the  "  Department  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  such  part  of  North  Carolina  as  may  not 
to  occupied  by  the  command  of  Major- General  Sherman."  (See  his  General 


608  APPENDIX. 


Orders,  No.  1.)  Four  days  later,  April  26th,  he  reports  to  the  Secretary  that 
he  has  ordered  Generals  Meade,  Sheridan,  and  Wright  to  invade  that  part  of 
North  Carolina  which  was  occupied  by  my  command,  and  pay  "no  re- 
gard to  any  truce  or  orders  of  "  mine.  They  were  ordered  to  "push  for  ward, 
regardless  of  any  orders  save  those  of  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  and  cut  off 
Johnston's  retreat."  He  knew  at  the  time  he  penned  that  dispatch  and 
made  those  orders,  that  Johnston  was  not  retreating,  but  was  halted  under  a 
forty-eight  hours'  truce  with  me,  and  was  laboring  to  surrender  his  com- 
mand and  prevent  its  dispersion  into  guerrilla  bands;  and  that  I  had  on  the 
spot  a  magnificent  army  at  my  command,  amply  sufficient  for  all  purposes 
required  by  the  occasion.  - 

The  plan  for  cutting  off  a  retreat  from  the  direction  of  Burkesville  and 
Danville  is  hardly  worthy  one  of  his  military  education  and  genius.  When 
he  contemplated  an  act  so  questionable  as  the  violation  of  a  "  truce  "  made 
by  competent  authority  within  his  sphere  of  command,  he  should  have  gone 
himself  and  not  have  sent  subordinates,  for  he  knew  I  was  bound  in  honor  to 
defend  and  maintain  my  own  truce  and  pledge  of  faith,  even  at  the  cost  of 
many  lives. 

When  an  officer  pledges  the  faith  of  his  government,  he  is  bound  to  de- 
fend it,  and  he  is  no  soldier  who  would  violate  it  knowingly. 

As  to  Davis  and  his  stolen  treasure,  did  General  Halleck,  as  Chief  of  Staff 
or  commanding  officer  of  the  neighboring  military  division,  notify  me  of  the 
facts  contained  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  ?  No,  he  did  not.  If  the 
Secretary  of  War  wanted  Davis  caught,  why  not  order  it,  instead  of,  by  pub- 
lishing in  the  newspapers,  putting  him  on  his  guard  to  hide  away  and  escape  ? 
No  orders  or  instructions  to  catch  Davis  or  his  stolen  treasure  ever  came  to 
me ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  I  was  led  to  believe  the  Secretary  of  War  rather 
preferred  that  he  should  effect  an  escape  from  the  country,  if  made  "  un- 
known "  to  him.  But  even  on  this  point  I  inclose  a  copy  of  my  letter  to 
Admiral  Dahlgren,  at  Charleston,  sent  him  by  a  fleet  steamer  from  Wilming- 
ton on  the  25th  of  April,  two  days  before  the  bankers  of  Richmond  had  im- 
parted to  General  Halleck  the  important  secret  as  to  Davis's  movement,  de- 
signing, doubtless,  to  stimulate  his  troops  to  march  their  legs  off  to  catch 
their  treasure  for  their  own  use. 

I  know  now  that  Admiral  Dahlgren  did  receive  my  letter  on  the  26th, 
and  had  acted  on  it  before  General  Halleck  had  even  thought  of  the  matter; 
but  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of  the  treasure  story — it  is  absurd  on  its  face— 
and  General  Halleck  or  anybody  has  my  full  permission  to  chase  Jeff.  Davia 
and  cabinet  with  their  stolen  treasure  through  any  part  of  the  country  occu- 
pied by  my  command. 

The  last  and  most  obnoxious  feature  of  General  Halleck's  dispatch  is 
wherein  he  goes  out  of  his  way  and  advises  that  my  subordinates,  Generals 
Thomas,  Stoneman,  and  Wilson,  should  be  instructed  not  to  obey  "  Sher- 
man's" commands. 

This  is  too  much  ;  and  I  turn  from  the  subject  with  feelings  too  strong 
for  words,  and  merely  record  my  belief  that  so  much  mischief  was  never  be- 
fore embraced  in  so  small  a  space  as  in  the  newspaper  paragraph  headed, 
" Sherman's  Truce  Disregarded,"  authenticated  as  "official,"  by  Mr.  Secre- 
tary Stanton,  and  published  in  the  New  York  papers  of  April  28th. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 


MAY  2  8  1975 

MAY  23  REDD 
MAR  2    1989  REd'B 


50wi-6,'67(H2523s8)2373 


3  2106 00060 7264 


